Both the man and the woman desiring to contract a marriage shall apply in person to the marriage registration authority for marriage registration. A marriage shall come into force as soon as marriage registration is completed.
The registration authority shall register the marriage and issue the marriage certificate except for the following circumstances:
- where either of the parties has not reached the statutory marriageable age;
- where it is not consensual; or
- where either party or both parties have spouses;
- where the parties are lineal relatives by blood or collateral relatives by blood up to the third degree of kinship; or
- where either of the parties is suffering from any disease which is regarded by medical science as unfit for marriage.
Chinese citizens may register marriage with foreigners in China, but same-sex marriages cannot be registered in China.
References:
Civil Code of China: Part V Marriage and Family (2020): Article 1049
Regulation on Marriage Registration: Article 4, 6
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