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What is the legal age for marriage in China
Time:2025-08-28 Views:1796
Firstly, according to Chinese law, the legal age for marriage in China is not earlier than 22 years for men and 20 years for women.
Secondly, the marriage age stipulated in the Marriage Law has universal applicability, but in certain special circumstances, the law also allows for exceptions to be made to the marriage age. For example, considering the multi-ethnic characteristics of our country, Article 50 of the Marriage Law stipulates that the people's congresses of ethnic autonomous areas have the right to formulate flexible regulations based on the specific situation of local ethnic marriage and family. At present, the legislative bodies of some ethnic autonomous regions in China have made flexible provisions on the statutory age of marriage in the Marriage Law. For example, in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Xizang and other autonomous regions, as well as some autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties, the minimum age for marriage in this region is 20 for men and 18 for women. But these flexible regulations only apply to ethnic minorities and do not apply to the Han people living in the region.
Finally, the provisions of China's Marriage Law regarding the age of marriage are not mandatory or the optimal age for marriage, but rather the minimum age for marriage, which sets the age limit between illegal and legal marriages. Only those who have reached the legal age for marriage can get married, otherwise it is illegal. The legal age of marriage does not prevent men and women from voluntarily postponing their marriage according to their own circumstances. In order to implement China's family planning policy, the Marriage Law also encourages late marriage and childbirth. The law advocates for late marriage, rather than forcing it, and does not mean that getting married later is better.
The Marriage Law only provides general provisions on disease marriages without listing them one by one. In judicial practice, the following diseases should be considered as diseases that should not be married:
1. Those who suffer from incurable sexually transmitted diseases. Sexually transmitted diseases are infectious diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms and primarily transmitted through sexual contact. The foundation of marriage is the union of the sexes. People with sexually transmitted diseases get married, and it is difficult for spouses to escape through sexual intercourse. If pregnant women suffer from sexually transmitted diseases at the same time, their children will definitely be infected. Therefore, for the sake of the patient's own recovery and the health and happiness of others, and for the improvement of the physical fitness of the whole nation, those who have not been cured of sexually transmitted diseases should be absolutely prohibited from getting married.
2. Patients with severe mental illness. Severe mental illness mainly refers to schizophrenia, manic depressive psychosis, and other severe mental illnesses. The reason why this type of patient is prohibited from getting married is primarily due to the fact that mentally ill individuals are limited or incapable of acting, unable to express their voluntary and conscious intentions, unable to understand the meaning of marriage, and unable to assume the obligations and responsibilities between spouses and their children after marriage. The main reason is that this disease is a serious genetic disorder. According to medical statistics, the heritability of schizophrenia in the next generation is 50% for one parent with schizophrenia, 60% for both parents with schizophrenia, and 22% for manic depressive disorder. Therefore, after getting married, psychiatric patients not only affect their own physical health and marital harmony, but also pose a great threat to the health of future generations and the eugenics of the population. Even if this disease is cured, due to its high heritability, they should be advised not to get married or have children.
3. Individuals with severe intellectual disability, also known as dementia patients. More severe cases of dementia patients may not even be able to identify their own relatives, nor can they bear the burden of their families or fulfill their marital obligations. Moreover, this disease has strong heritability and can easily endanger future generations. Therefore, marriage should be prohibited.
In reality, it is often difficult to obtain a marriage certificate smoothly due to one or both parties being under age. At such times, the parties involved may falsely report their age in an attempt to obtain a marriage certificate. However, even if the staff is deceived and a marriage certificate is obtained, such a marriage relationship is considered invalid due to the lack of marriage requirements.
The marriage age stipulated in the Marriage Law has universal applicability, but in certain special circumstances, the law also allows exceptions to be made to the marriage age. For example, considering the multi-ethnic characteristics of our country, Article 50 of the Marriage Law stipulates that "the people's congresses of ethnic autonomous areas have the right to formulate flexible provisions based on the specific situation of local ethnic marriage and family." Some legislative bodies of ethnic autonomous areas in our country have made flexible provisions on the legal age of marriage in the Marriage Law. For example, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Xizang and other autonomous regions, as well as some autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties, all take the age of 20 for men and 18 for women as the minimum age for marriage in this region. But these flexible regulations only apply to ethnic minorities and do not apply to the Han people living in the region.
The above is the latest information collected by the editor of Fanneng Law Firm on the legal age for marriage in China. In summary, according to Chinese law, the legal age for marriage in China is not earlier than 22 years for men and 20 years for women. However, in certain special circumstances, the law also allows for exceptions to be made regarding the age of marriage.. If you have any other legal questions, please feel free to consult our lawyers at Faneng Law Firm. Sichuan Faneng Law Firm is dedicated to serving you.