China's State Council has approved the expansion of an inter-provincial marriage registration pilot program to 21 provincial-level regions across the country, a move welcomed by the migrant population, who no longer need to return to their hometowns to register their marriage.
The program will be carried out in places including Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai, as well as Hebei Province, Anhui Province and Hainan Province, the State Council said in the announcement.
Under current regulations, marriages must be registered at a registry office located in the same region of household registration of the bride or the groom. Now in the pilot areas, people living in regions outside their household registration can register their marriages where they live, the announcement reads.
The pilot program will last two years from the date of approval. During the pilot period, the Ministry of Civil Affairs should guide the pilot regions to further strengthen and upgrade the management of the marriage registration system and make marriage registration more digital.
