Marriage reforms making it easier to tie the knot

Newlyweds pose for a photo at a marriage registration office in Beijing's Xicheng district on Saturday. (HAN HAIDAN/CHINA NEWS SERVICE)

In Beijing's historic Qianmen area, a marriage registration office opened on Saturday in the bustling Dashilan shopping area, amid a cluster of photo studios and shops offering wedding-related services.

On the same day, a revised version of marriage registration rules started to take effect in China, historically leaving out the former requirement that both the bride and groom need to present their hukou, or the certificate of household registration status, which had been in place since the 1980s.

Foreseeing that the policy revision — mainly to make marriage registrations and related services more convenient — would bring a surging number of registrants, the civil affairs authority set up the new registry to better serve couples.

"Previously, the newlyweds needed to go to the places of their household registration and take the hukou booklets for marriage registration. From now on, they just need to show their ID cards to tie the knot at marriage registration offices anywhere in the country," said Bian Zhihui, a registrar at the new office in downtown Beijing.

From checking ID cards and photos of the newlyweds and guiding them to fill in the forms, to verifying the information through a nationalized computer network, the whole registration process takes about only 10 minutes.

Bian said the new rule is among a slew of pro-marriage and childbearing policies promulgated by the Chinese government to streamline procedures and give incentives for people aiming to start families.

China recorded 1.81 million marriage registrations in the first quarter of this year, marking an 8 percent drop from the same period in 2024, according to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

After nine consecutive years of decline, China's marriage registration numbers saw a brief rebound in 2023. However, the downward trend resumed last year, with registrations falling to their lowest level since 1980.

The new marriage registration office is located in a traditional courtyard building and boasts a one-stop service, allowing couples to choose wedding dresses and suits, take wedding photos or purchase marriage souvenirs.

A 15-minute walk from the office is the marriage registration service center of the Civil Affairs Bureau of Beijing's Xicheng district. The center has registered more marriages than anywhere else in the capital.

Xu Zongyi said the center, of which he is a deputy director, recorded nearly 20,000 marriage registrations last year.

Xu expects the latest rule change to boost marriage registration by 20 to 30 percent.

On Saturday, there were approximately 1,700 marriage registrations recorded in Beijing, among which about 900 pairs were not permanent residents of the capital. Various Chinese provinces and cities have done more than just cut red tape to boost marriage and fertility rates.

In March this year, the provincial government of Zhejiang issued a notice calling local authorities to improve marriage and fertility support policies, with recommended incentives including the distribution of cash in the form of "wedding red envelopes" or consumption vouchers to newlyweds.

Yan Yan from the Civil Affairs Bureau of Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, told Xinhua News Agency that a government-sponsored group wedding for 52 couples is slated for May 22, with the ceremony to be held in the historic Shenyang Palace Museum.

"Through the group wedding, we advocate new ways of getting married by infusing traditional customs with the new trend of thrifty practices," Yan said.

Liu Qing and Yao Wenjiu, both working in Shenyang away from their home cities, plan to get married this month.

"The new rule allows us to do it more conveniently in the city where we work — you don't have to go back home to 'steal' hukou booklets from parents," Liu said.

While marriage is legally determined and executed autonomously by the parties involved, parental approval and endorsement remain culturally paramount in Chinese marital traditions. For young adults whose household registration remains jointly registered with their parents — even if they live and work elsewhere — previous regulations required them to obtain the family's hukou booklet to complete marriage registration. This effectively meant that registering a marriage first necessitated parental awareness and consent.

Wang Jun, a marriage and family counselor, said marriage registration reform eliminates the mandatory household registration booklet requirement, granting individuals full autonomy in marital decisions.

With more than 10 years of experience, Wang volunteers as a counselor at the Xicheng district marriage registration service center.

"Parents' opinions are traditionally deemed authoritative to help their children choose the 'right' spouses and avoid risks in future marriage. Nowadays, many young people are more inclined to seek help through counseling," Wang said.

However, she warned that under the rule, there might be a higher possibility of impulsive "flash marriages" and divorces, especially among young people who lack experience in intimate relationships and family issues.