Article 151 of the Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that "if one spouse's whereabouts are unknown, the other party brings a lawsuit to the people's court, only asking for divorce and not applying for declaring the missing or dead of the missing person, the people's court shall accept the case and serve litigation documents on the missing person by public announcement."
 Article 84 of the Civil Procedure Law clearly states: "If the whereabouts of the person to be served is unknown, or the service cannot be made by other means specified in this section, the service shall be made by public announcement. 60 days from the date of the public announcement, the service shall be deemed to have been made."
 The court served the litigation document on the defendant by means of public notice. Whether the defendant saw it or not, it was deemed to have been served. If the defendant did not appear in court or respond to the lawsuit within the time specified by the court, the court could hear it by default and make a judgment by default.