THE Nanshan District Court has successfully settled a divorce case online, Saturday's (Dec 9) Daily Sunshine reported.

A woman surnamed Chen filed a lawsuit with the court seeking a divorce after years of separation from her husband Wang. Chen had lost contact with Wang since 2004.

After the court discovered Wang's father lived in Hubei, court documents were sent to Wang through a court in the province. After two weeks, Wang called the Nanshan court, saying he agreed to divorce but could not attend the court hearing because he was in Sichuan Province.

When the court opened hearing, the judge talked to Wang via an instant messaging system after verifying his identity. The terms for divorce were sent to Wang online.

During the online conversations, Chen and Wang finally reached a settlement agreement.

In order to prevent future controversies, the judge sent an e-mail specifying the terms Wang had agreed during the online conversations. Wang later sent a reply to give his consent.

The newspaper did not provide other details such as the date of the hearing.

Editor: Wing