With the country’s birth rate continuing to decline sharply, China has announced a draft law to simplify marriage registration.
The public has until Sept. 11 to comment on the law, which was released this week by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs. The move comes as politicians in the country of 1.4 billion people grapple with a falling birth rate that is already among the lowest in the world.
China’s birth rate fell for the seventh consecutive year in 2023, and the country recorded more deaths than births for the second year in a row, leading to a population decline of 2.08 million – about the size of New Mexico – according to the country’s statistics bureau.
The bill is described as a step towards a “family-friendly society” and aims to facilitate the marriage process by removing long-standing regional restrictions.
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Currently, marriage in China is tied to the spouse’s official place of residence, the “Hukou.” This rigidity can affect access to education, job opportunities and social benefits and may make it difficult for spouses from different regions to decide where to live and start a family.
The bill also provides for a 30-day period before couples can finalize their divorce. This provision is already part of China’s Civil Code and has been in effect since January 2021. During this “cooling-off period,” either party can withdraw their application, effectively halting the divorce proceedings.
However, this mandatory waiting period, originally intended to reduce spontaneous divorces, has sparked controversy. Critics argue that it prolongs unhappy marriages and can be abused in cases of domestic violence.
The proposed changes have sparked considerable debate on Chinese social media platforms.
“Marriage is essentially a contract. Just negotiate the contract,” wrote one user on the video-sharing platform Bilibili.
One netizen noted that the new marriage registration law could save money and take away some of the in-laws’ freedom of action: “Doesn’t (the proposed update) simply avoid paying a bride price to get the account book from the woman’s parents?”
Bride prices are still common in China and often include substantial gifts of money or property from the groom’s family to the bride’s family.
“It will be much easier for me and my partner to get married in the future,” said another user. “Her parents are not very happy with me, but she and I are very close. It would save time and effort if I didn’t have to go through her parents to get her Hukou registration.”
Others said the current law ensures that marriages are carefully considered: “Marriage without family protection or a spontaneous marriage has many pitfalls,” said one commentator.
According to government statistics, the number of Chinese couples saying “I do” fell by 8.3 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2023.
Last year, there were 850,000 more marriages than in 2022, the first increase since 2013, although this was attributed to the lifting of strict pandemic-era restrictions in China earlier in the year.
China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
