Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China

(Adopted at the Third Session of the Thirteenth National People’s Congress on May 28, 2020)

Book Five Marriage and Family

Chapter II Entering into Marriage

Article 1046 A man and a woman shall enter into marriage freely and voluntarily. Neither party may compel the other party to enter into marriage against his will, and no organization or individual may interfere with the freedom of marriage.

Article 1047 To enter into a marriage, a man shall reach the age of twenty-two, and a woman shall reach the age of twenty.

Article 1048 Persons who are lineal relatives by blood, or collateral relatives by blood up to the third degree of kinship are prohibited from being married.

Article 1049 Both the man and the woman intending to enter into a marriage shall file registration of the marriage in person with a marriage registration authority. If the proposed marriage is found to conform to the provisions of this Code, the marriage shall be registered and a marriage certificate shall be issued. A marital relationship shall be established upon completion of the marriage registration. The couple who has failed to file a marriage registration shall complete the registration.

Article 1050 After a marriage has been registered, by mutual consent, the woman may become a member of the man’s family or vice versa.

Article 1051 A marriage is void in any of the following situations:

(1) the parties to the marriage fall within the relative relations prohibited by law from marrying each other; or

(2) the parties to the marriage fall within the relative relations prohibited by law from marrying each other; or

(3) either party to the marriage is under the statutory marriageable age.

Article 1052 If a marriage is entered into as a result of coercion, the coerced party may apply to the people’s court to annul the marriage.

Such an application to annul the marriage shall be made within one year from the date of the coercive act ceases.

Where the coerced party whose personal freedom is illegally constrained wishes to annul the marriage, the application to annul the marriage shall be made within one year from the date when the party’s personal freedom is restored.

Article 1053 If one of the parties suffers from a serious disease, he shall truthfully inform the other party of such disease prior to marriage registration; where such information is not truthfully provided, the other party may apply to the people’s court to annul the marriage.

The application to annul a marriage shall be made within one year from the date when the party knows or should have known of the cause for the annulment.

Article 1054 A void or annulled marriage has no legal effect ab initio, and neither party to such a marriage shall have any rights or duties arising from the marital relationship. Properties acquired during the cohabitation period shall be disposed of by mutual agreement. Where the parties fail to reach such an agreement, the people’s court shall adjudicate the case in compliance with the principle of favoring the no-fault party. When disposing of the property acquired during a marriage which has been voided due to bigamy, the proprietary rights and interests of the parties to the lawful marriage shall not be infringed upon. The provisions of this Code on parents and children shall apply to the children born by the parties to a void or annulled marriage.

Where a marriage is void or annulled, the no-fault party has the right to request for damages.