Beijing, Jan 7 : An astounding 44,364 couples with at least one partner hailing from Chinese business hub Shanghai were divorced last year, a Shanghai government bureau said.

The number was up more than 5,100 from the figure in 2011, the Shanghai Daily cited the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau as saying.

This was also the largest increase in recent years -- 13 percent. The number in 2011 rose only four percent from that of 2010.

Among the divorces in 2012, at least one partner was an expatriate in 400 marriages.

Leng Li, a marriage counsellor, said the rise in the number of marriages among youngsters born after 1980 was partly behind the increase in divorces.

Those born after 1980 were "pampered" by their parents following China's one-child policy, and they were "more self-centred" and "less tolerant" in their marriages than those born earlier, said Leng.

Lin Kewu, deputy director of the Shanghai Civil Affairs' marriage administration office, said young couples were not taking their marriage vows seriously.

Recently, a dog caused a young couple to divorce.

The woman was living with the dog since she was a teenager, and took the animal on every date with the man. When the man proposed, she asked that the dog be allowed to sleep on the bed with her after they were married.

But every time the man tried to go to the bed, the dog barked and tried to attack him. The situation lasted for a month, and later the couple divorced.(IANS)