Amid rising real estate¹ prices across China, Chinese couples are scrambling² to get divorced to buy new houses, in an effort to circumvent³ government restrictions⁴ that require residents to pay more in down payment if they want to purchase a second house.

当此全国房地产价格高涨之际，中国夫妇们却在忙于离婚买新房。这是因为政府要求居民购买第二套房需要支付更多的首付，而先离婚再买房则可以规避这种限制措施。

According to the Shanghai government's current policy, homebuyers must put up to 50 percent down for their second house and 70 percent for a third one. A first-time homebuyer only needs to put down 30 percent.

按照上海市政府目前的政策，购房者必须为第二套房支付50%的首付，第三套房的首付比例更是高达70%。而第一次购房的市民则只需要支付30%的首付即可。

Of 70 Chinese cities surveyed in August, 64 reported a month-on-month increase in new home prices, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its official website last Monday.

国家统计局上周一在其官网上表示，在八月份对中国70座城市进行的一场调查中，据报道有64座城市房价每月都在上涨。

As price hikes extended from top-tier cities to medium-sized cities, three cities - Suzhou, Xiamen and Hangzhou - resumed home purchase restrictions, while several others raised minimum deposits.

由于房价上涨势头从一线城市蔓延到了中等城市，所以苏州、厦门和杭州这三座城市恢复了对购房的限制，而其他一些城市则提高了最低存款的限制。

"Nowadays, families are using 'fake divorces' as a tool to skirt the home purchase restrictions for different reasons, such as avoiding the home-purchase tax or buying a house in a school district," Lin Nan, a Beijing-based lawyer from Liang Gao Law Firm which specializes in marriage cases, told the Global Times.

林楠是北京两高律师事务所的一名律师，专攻婚姻案件，他向《环球时报》透露称：“当下，夫妻们正在通过'假离婚'来规避购房限制，其原因多种多样，有的是为了避免支付购房税、有的则是想要买学区房。”

Currently, housing prices in big cities are registering an abnormal increase, which has actually created a big economic bubble, said Hu Xingdou, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology.

北京理工大学教授胡星斗表示，目前大城市房价正在不正常地增长，事实上已经造成了一个巨大的经济泡沫。

"Due to a slowdown in the real economy, many business owners in real economy sectors⁵ have dived into real estate, while others have followed them due to the lack of better investment options," Hu said.

胡星斗教授说道：“由于实体经济放缓，许多实体经济部门企业主都已经转战房地产市场，而他人由于缺少更好的投资机会，也选择了跟随。”

According to a survey from Longview Economics in the US, the average housing price in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province is the second highest in the world. Beijing and Shanghai are also among the most expensive, the China Youth Daily reported.

据美国Longview Economics公司的一份调查显示，深圳是全球平均房价第二高的城市。据《中国青年报》的报道，北京和上海的房价也在全球最贵之列。

Society has a tendency to worship money, and some people use all means to accumulate wealth, even at the cost of their families, Hu said, adding that the phenomenon⁶ reflects the high living cost in China and lack of satisfactory social welfare provisions.

胡星斗教授表示，中国社会现在有一种拜金的倾向，有些人不择手段地积累财富，甚至以牺牲自己的家庭为代价，这个现象表明中国的生活成本非常之高，但是却不能提供令人满意的社会福利。

While the courts are unable to distinguish between a real divorce and a fake one, the policy to curb⁷ housing prices wasn't intended to lead to such an outcome. Hu said the purchase restrictions could have little effect on preventing the real estate market from overheating.

法院无法辨别一对夫妻到底是真离婚还是假离婚，遏制房价的政策也没料到会产生这种结果。胡星斗表示，在防止房地产市场过热的这个问题上，购房限制措施可能收效甚微。

The restrictions should take into account the reasonable needs for home purchases, and media, as well as legal authorities, should speak more about the risks involved in "fake divorces".

这些限制措施应该考虑到购房的合理需要，而媒体和法律部门则应该多多宣传“假离婚”的风险。