China Proposes New Marriage Law: Easier Registration, Tougher Divorces

Beijing, China – China has proposed a revised draft law aimed at simplifying marriage registration while making divorce more difficult. This move, intended to promote a “family-friendly society,” has sparked significant backlash online, becoming a top trending topic on Thursday.

The draft, released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs for public feedback until September 11, seeks to encourage young couples to marry and have children as the country grapples with a declining population. The proposed changes eliminate regional restrictions, allowing couples to register their marriages anywhere, rather than at their household registration location.

However, the draft law also imposes a 30-day cooling-off period for divorces. During this period, if either party decides against the divorce, they can withdraw the application, effectively halting the process. This aspect of the law has drawn criticism from netizens. “It’s easy to get married, but hard to divorce. What a stupid rule,” wrote one user on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, garnering tens of thousands of likes.

The regulation aims to “promote the importance of marriage and family,” reduce impulsive divorces, uphold social stability, and better protect the legitimate rights of those involved, according to Jiang Quanbao, a professor at the Institute for Population and Development Studies at Xi’an Jiaotong University, as reported by the state-backed Global Times.

Data shows that the number of Chinese couples who married in the first half of this year fell by 498,000 from the previous year to 3.43 million, the lowest since 2013. Many young people are delaying marriage, which is typically seen as a prerequisite for having children due to policies requiring a marriage certificate to register a baby and receive benefits.

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