Customer Cases
What is the minimum age for marriage registration in China
Time:2025-09-01 Views:643
The natural and social attributes of marriage require that marriage must reach a certain age in order to possess suitable physiological and psychological conditions, fulfill marital obligations, and assume family and social responsibilities. So, although our country's laws grant every citizen the right to marry, not all citizens can become the subject of the legal relationship of marriage. Only those who have reached the legal age for marriage enjoy the right to marry.
The legal age for marriage in Chinese Mainland shall not be earlier than 22 for men and 20 for women.
The legal age for marriage in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan is not earlier than 18 for men and 16 for women.
The provisions of the Chinese Marriage Law regarding the age of marriage are not mandatory or optimal, 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 of 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. It is inappropriate for some units to use the marriage age that enjoys preferential policies instead of the legal marriage age. If the marriage age is not reached, it is not approved for both men and women to get married. The law advocates for late marriage, rather than forcing it, and does not mean that getting married later is better. In order to ensure strict law enforcement on the issue of marriage age, the "Regulations on the Administration of Marriage Registration" stipulate that "if the parties applying for marriage are unable to obtain the required certificates due to interference from their units or others, and the marriage registration authority confirms that they indeed comply with the provisions of the Marriage Law and these Measures, they should also be registered and issued a marriage certificate
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 age of marriage stipulated in the Marriage Law has universal applicability, but in certain special circumstances, the law also allows for exceptions to be made to the age of marriage. 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. Therefore, the universal minimum age for marriage is 20 years for women and 22 years for men. It is believed that through the above article, everyone has a certain understanding of the minimum age for marriage registration in China. If you have any other legal questions, please feel free to consult with Fanneng Law Firm. Sichuan Faneng Law Firm is dedicated to serving you.