How can you quickly say goodbye to a broken marriage? An instant messaging app used in court can do the job. A recent trial held at Fuquan No 4 People's Court through WeChat was completed in just 20 minutes to legalize a divorce agreement between a long-separated couple.

It was the first trial case conducted through WeChat in Qiannan prefecture in Southwest China's Guizhou province.

The couple, both from a village of southwestern Fuquan city of the prefecture got married in 1989. In the early years of the marriage they both tried to earn money in another province due to precarious financial conditions but later separated. The two have been living in separate cities for seven years, resulting in a broken relationship.

On Feb 8, one of them filed a divorce appeal in court, while the other, who lives and works about 2,000 kilometers away in northern Tianjin, expressed no objection. With a judge's mediation through WeChat, they reached a divorce agreement the next day.