China cuts marriage red tape for migrant workers as population crisis looms
- People in 21 provinces will not have to travel back to their birthplace to register their partnerships
- The State Council’s decision is the latest in a flurry of efforts to make it easier for couples to tie the knot and have children
The State Council, China’s cabinet, has approved a regulation allowing people from 21 provinces and municipalities – mostly in eastern and central China such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Zhejiang – to register their marriage where their residence permits were issued.
The hukou determines each person’s access to public education, healthcare and other social services but in recent years, some parts of the country have introduced residence permits for people whose hukou is tied to another area. In Beijing, for example, a person who does not have a Beijing hukou can apply for the permit and have access to some social services, such as healthcare.
The new regulation is meant to help ease the travel burden on the hundreds of millions of migrant workers in the country, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
“In 2020, China had 376 million migrants, of which more than 120 million moved across provinces,” CCTV reported on Saturday.