The heavily disputed amendments to the Marriage Law were approved by China's legislature yesterday.
After three deliberations, the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC), almost unanimously adopted the amendments, Xinhua reported.
Major changes adopted included outlawing baoernai - or having a de-facto second wife. The new law states it is 'against bigamy, against a married person cohabiting with somebody else'.
Under the law, women who divorce because of the 'second wife' or domestic abuse can seek financial compensation.
Other changes include defining the foundation of marriage: couples should be 'loyal and helpful to each other'; and the property ownership principle: 'the couple jointly own the property accumulated during marriage except personal items.'
New amendments are aimed at bringing the 'second wife' problem within the scope of the law. One of the deliberations by the Standing Committee of the NPC was about being more explicit than previous clauses in the Marriage Law. The law now talk about 'against bigamy, against a married person cohabiting with somebody else . . . against behaviour that is not conducive to monogamy'.
'The new change further clarifies the legal responsibility of bigamy and baoernai - having a concubine,' Xinhua quoted Gu Angran, deputy secretary of the Standing Committee's Legal Committee, as saying.