The Chinese government is pushing marriage law amendments to encourage marriage while restricting divorce.
The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs released a revised draft of the “Marriage Registration Ordinance” and began a month-long public consultation process. The key points were simplifying the marriage registration process and tightening divorce procedures.
The amendment eliminates a household registration submission during marriage registration, speeding the process. In contrast, the divorce procedure would need a mandatory 30-day contemplation period. If either one pulls out of the divorce, the registration goes void.
Quanbao Jiang from Xi’an Jiaotong University explained that the intention is to promote the importance of marriage and family while reducing impulsive divorces. This is part of the Chinese government’s broader birth encouragement policy. They are trying to reverse two consecutive years of population decline through such reform.
However, the Chinese public’s response to this amendment has been tepid. One netizen criticized the change: “It’s easy to get married but hard to get divorced. What a foolish law.” This comment received tens of thousands of supportive reactions.
Meanwhile, marriage registrations in China have been steadily declining. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, there were 3.43 million marriage registrations in the first half of this year, a decrease of 498,000 compared to last year. This marks the lowest level since 2013.
Experts analyze that due to the economic crisis, more young people in China are delaying marriage or choosing to remain single.
It remains uncertain how effective this legal amendment will be in addressing China’s low birth rate and how the government will handle the backlash from young people.
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