In this study we explore the association between premarital conception, cohabitation and divorce in the context of China over the past seven decades. We applied event-history analysis to longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies (2010-2012 waves). The results show that individuals who cohabited with their marrying partner had substantially higher rates of divorce than those who did not. The role of premarital conception in divorce was visible, but not as strong as that of cohabitation. Individuals who had “hesitation” in entering into marriage, namely those who stayed longer in cohabitation or who married at later pregnancy were more likely to divorce than others. The relative risks of divorce rose approximately threefold from the pre-1990s to the 1990s. The divorce trend shifted to a plateau from the 1990s to the 2000s. During the plateau period, the previous strong effect of cohabitation on divorce weakened.