Marriage registration in China should require fewer documents and offer more flexibility in registration locations, according to a new draft revision.
Under the new draft, couples from the Chinese mainland will only need their ID cards and a signed statement stating that they are not currently married and do not have a three-generation blood relationship with the other party to register their marriage.
Currently, people must also bring their family record book for their marriage registration.
This is the first revision of the Marriage Registration Ordinance since it was adopted in 2003. The public is invited to provide feedback on the draft via the Ministry of Civil Affairs’ official website, by email or by post until September 11.
The draft revision also lifts the restriction on the places of marriage registration. Currently, couples must go to marriage registration offices located in the areas where they permanently reside to complete the procedure.
Official data shows that 3.43 million couples registered their marriages in the first half of this year, half the figure for the same period in 2014.
Experts have attributed the decline to a shrinking pool of eligible people, changing attitudes toward marriage and financial concerns.
More young people are choosing to postpone marriage until they are personally ready, said Zhou Haiwang, a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
In addition, the draft revision also introduced a 30-day “cooling-off period” for divorce, during which either party can withdraw their application if they do not wish to continue with the procedure. Marriage registration offices must then terminate the divorce proceedings, according to the document.
