ARM IN ARM: Newlyweds taking part in a group wedding of 12 couples in Sanya, a southern China coastal resort city the day before Valentine's Day. (CFP)

As a public interest lawyer for about 15 years, Guo Jianmei is the founding director of Peking University's Center for Women's Law and Legal Services, China's first NGO specializing in legal aid for women's rights protection. Among her many awards for public service, she has received the 2007 Human Rights Award from the U.S. woman's organization Vital Voices. Guo, 49, is the wife of best-selling novelist Liu Zhenyun and mother to a fourth-year university student. During Guo's interview with Beijing Review on women's role in marriage, she emphasized the key elements of women's economic independence and self-confidence.

Beijing Review: Do you think maintaining a good marriage is easy for a woman?

Guo Jianmei: It is both simple and complicated. It is simple because women should be independent, self-confident and have self-respect. The complicated part is your preparation before the marriage, including your educational background, your career and your general knowledge.

Chinese literature describes loving couples as two stranded fish moistening each other with spit. I don't think this kind of metaphor applies to most couples in modern society. People's marriage concepts should evolve with economic and social development. Compared to this intimacy between husband and wife that only applies to families in a very difficult situation, I appreciate the state of two people being independent in mind and in their own careers while still being in love with each other.

Is there any new characteristics for the marriage cases or consultations your center has received in recent years?

One outstanding characteristic is a rise in proportion of divorce cases initiated by women. In the past, women seeking our legal advice on divorce often told us, "My husband wants to divorce me. What should I do?"

Now more and more female litigants start the conversations by listing reasons why they cannot be happy in their marriages and why they want a divorce. They are more willing to fight for their rights during a divorce through legal means, such as property settlement and custody of children.

Another characteristic is an increase in conflicts over property division during divorces that were caused by extra-marital relationships. A typical case is that a husband runs a successful private company while his wife gives up her own career to be a full-time housewife. After taking on a mistress, the husband transfers assets of the company to other accounts to support his new relationship. Since the wife has not participated in the management of this company, she does not know where the assets have gone. Instead of obtaining half of the family assets acquired over the course of the marriage as required by law, the wife gets as little as a set of apartments. So my advice for wives is that they should help themselves before helping their husbands to be successful.

So you believe it is vital for married women to stay in the labor market?

Yes, even when the job cannot provide a good salary or great satisfaction. At least, a job can give you a position in our society. Without this position, your husband is likely to underestimate you or even to eventually abandon you.

Does this rule apply to rich families where the husband's income alone can provide a comfortable life?

Definitely. Many girls who want to marry an eligible bachelor worth 50 million yuan ($7.3 million) fail to realize the greater risk of the marriage failing, which is a result of the imbalanced economic status between a husband and wife. They can own designer clothing, sports cars and have an ideal life, but at the same time their marriage is full of risk. In comparison, under such circumstances, if the wife is willing to be a hard worker for her own career, the risk can be lowered.

Do you consider yourself a good wife and mother?

Yes. A traditional Chinese criterion for a good housewife is to help the husband and teach the children, which I believe I have accomplished in my own way. Apart from doing all the cooking and laundry as a traditional wife, I have my own career and social life, which help share the family's economic burden. Moreover, as we both are working, we can understand each other and speak the same language when planning the future of our life together.

As for teaching my daughter, instead of taking care of her as a stay-at-home mom as required by tradition, I try to be a role model for her with my career pursuits and devotion to work.