This brought a huge public backlash from the Chinese against China’s proposed measures to simplify getting marriage and increase the difficulties for divorcing as an example of the challenges faced by world’s number two economy in curbing the sharp decline in its birthrate.
To implement these draft changes, couples will no longer have to show hukou when filing for marriage. The bill also had provisions that imposed a 30-day waiting period before divorce proceedings can start, something that has been part of law since 2021 making it more difficult to get out of a marriage.
The alterations are said to promote “marital freedom” by Chinese media because they might lower family intervention while increasing “rationality” in divorce decisions.
However, this discrepancy has sparked outrage on social media platforms where netizens are questioning the motives behind them with some expressing concerns about bigamy or identity cheating in marriages.
“Is there any concept of marital freedom in a cooling-off period for divorce?” asked one commenter on Weibo.com like X which attracted over 22 thousand likes.
They briefly topped Weibo’s list on trending topics on Friday morning, with over 100 million views. “Where is my right to get divorced?” another user asked, garnering over 21 thousand likes.
Even after abandoning family planning policies and trying to raise birth rates since young ‘Chinese people today have different goals from their parents’ generation, leaders in China have failed to halt the fall in the number of newborns.
Although fewer couples continue to get divorced due to increased obstacles put up against separation between partners, fewer people are marrying each other now. Official statistics show only 3.43 million couples were wedded during H1 this year—the lowest figure since the beginning of 1980—reports The Paper based in Shanghai.
Starting this week until September 11th, Ministry of Civil Affairs would be inviting public opinions on proposed amendments it has made to laws governing marriage and divorce.
Over the years, original copies of household registration have been compulsory documents used to prevent bigamy since spouses usually file for marriage where they hold a hukou.
By providing their identity cards and signing affidavits showing that they are eligible to marry, people could get married anywhere in the country once the changes proposed are adopted.
According to The Paper, this move would also liberate young Chinese people from hukou restrictions on marriage. It could also end up solving the problem with high “dowries,” a tradition that requires prospective grooms to take gifts to their bride’s parents; it is one of the reasons why birth rate is not increasing as planned by authorities.
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