920,000 Couples Use China Cross-Region Marriage Service

More than 921,000 couples across China had completed marriage registrations through a new nationwide cross-region service as of the end of August, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said, underscoring the reach of a reform that allows couples to wed outside the place where their household is registered.

The figure was announced at a State Council Information Office press conference in the “Starting the 15th Five-Year Plan” series and reported by Xinhua News. The policy is rooted in the revised Marriage Registration Regulations, which took effect on May 10, 2025.

A Sweeping Regulatory Change

The revised regulations, promulgated as State Council Decree No. 804 and signed by Premier Li Qiang, abolished the long-standing requirement that couples register their marriage in the jurisdiction where their household registration, or hukou, is held. Couples are also no longer required to submit their household registration booklet.

The change marked a major simplification of an administrative process that had previously forced many couples to travel back to their hometowns. China first piloted cross-province registration in selected regions from 2021, expanding it to 21 provinces from June 2023 before making the service universal under the 2025 regulations.

According to Zhu Yujun, deputy director and first-level inspector of the ministry’s Social Affairs Department, the service covers more than first-time weddings. He told China Youth Daily that it also applies to the reissuance and replacement of marriage certificates, as well as marriages involving foreign nationals and residents of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

From Processing to Experience

The reform has been paired with efforts to streamline related bureaucracy. Civil affairs departments, working with public security and health authorities, integrated marriage registration, hukou marital-status changes, spousal household migration and birth registration into a single “one matter” process, cutting required materials by an average of 50%, Xinhua reported. Some localities reduced paperwork from more than 10 documents to as few as three, with processing times as short as one day.

The ministry has also expanded marriage and family counseling. At the same press conference, Deputy Minister Shu Huihao said services at counseling rooms have grown “from simple mediation to newlywed guidance, psychological counseling and relationship repair,” as reported by Lianhe Zaobao, citing CCTV.

Nationwide, 4,747 counseling rooms have been established at county-level and above registration offices, staffed by about 18,000 counselors, roughly 9,000 of whom hold professional qualifications such as psychological counselor or social worker credentials. The regulations mandate that registration offices provide counseling and that authorities strengthen the professional workforce.

Beyond administration, the government has recast registration venues themselves. Officials have moved wedding registration from administrative halls to parks, scenic areas and other commemorative locations. China has built 1,330 outdoor certificate-awarding sites, 525 registration points in parks and similar venues, and 2,045 marriage-custom culture exhibition venues. It has also designated 2,080 marriage-custom reform pilot and demonstration units at various levels.

Demographic Backdrop

The facilitation measures sit within a broader campaign to support marriage and childbearing as China contends with a shrinking and aging population. Marriage registrations fell from a peak of roughly 13.47 million in 2013 to 6.106 million in 2024. They rebounded to 6.763 million in 2025 — a 10.76% increase attributed to an auspicious “double spring” lunar year, pent-up cross-region demand and local pro-family measures — before slipping again in the first half of 2026, when registrations totaled 3.275 million, down about 7.46% year on year.

Related policies include a national childcare subsidy of 3,600 yuan per child per year for children under three, effective from Jan. 1, 2025, and a raised individual income tax deduction for infant and toddler care. The 2026 Government Work Report pledged stronger housing support for first-marriage and first-birth families and expanded affordable childcare.

What’s Next

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the ministry said it will focus on five areas: raising registration service standards, expanding counseling provision, optimizing registration venues, cultivating civilized marriage customs and regulating the matchmaking industry.

Shu said the emphasis is shifting from simply being able to register to registering well. How much the convenience measures ultimately move China’s marriage and birth numbers remains the central question — the administrative reforms are now largely in place, but demographic trends are shaped by deeper economic and social forces.