What is the legal age for marriage in China in 2019
4hw.com.cn: according to relevant statistics, the marriage age in China is now in a state of polarization. Some older men and women don't get married, and many young people get married early. Do you know what the legal age for marriage is in China? Let's have a look.
How old can men and women get married
Marriage has natural and social requirements. Only when marriage reaches a certain age can it have suitable physiological and psychological conditions, fulfill husband and wife obligations and assume family and social responsibilities. Although China's marriage law gives every citizen the right to marry, not all citizens can become the subject of marriage legal relations. Only those who reach the legal age of marriage can have the right to marry. The legal age of marriage in China shall not be earlier than 22 for men and 20 for women.
The provisions of China's marriage law on the age of marriage are not the age of marriage, nor the best age of marriage, but the minimum age of marriage. It is the age boundary between illegal marriage and legal marriage. Only when the legal age of marriage is reached can we get married, otherwise it is illegal. The legal age of marriage in China does not prevent men and women from delaying marriage according to their own situation on a voluntary basis. In order to implement China's national policy of family planning, the marriage law also encourages late marriage and late childbearing. Some units replace the legal age of marriage with the age of marriage enjoying preferential policies. If they do not reach this age of marriage, it is inappropriate not to approve both men and women to marry.
The law advocates late marriage, not forced late marriage. It does not mean that the later the marriage, the better. Some regions and units enforce late marriage and late childbearing in their regions or units according to their own regulations. For those who apply for marriage registration without reaching the age of late marriage and late childbearing, they will not issue the unit certificate required for marriage registration, and even some registration authorities will not go through the formalities of marriage registration. This practice is wrong. It confuses the nature of the legal age of marriage and the age of late marriage, and violates the marriage rights enjoyed by the parties according to law.
Although the marriage law stipulates the legal age for marriage, in some special cases, the law also allows exceptions to the legal age for marriage. For example, considering the multi-ethnic characteristics of China, Article 50 of the marriage law stipulates: "the people's Congress of a national autonomous area has the right to formulate flexible provisions in combination with the specific conditions of local ethnic marriage and family." At present, the legislature of some national autonomous areas in China has made flexible provisions on the legal age of marriage in the marriage law. For example, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Tibet and other autonomous regions, as well as some autonomous prefectures and counties, all take 20 years of age for men and 18 years of age for women as the minimum age for marriage in this region. However, these flexible provisions only apply to ethnic minorities, not the Han nationality living in the region.