For richer or low-interest loans: the sham marriages – and divorces – built on China’s property market
Some Chinese are splitting up and tying the knot to get around compensation and home-buying rules
When Feng Ping (not her real name) was told in 2008 that her home in central Shanghai would be demolished by a property developer, the divorcee’s first thought was to find a new husband.
The 20 square metre (215 sq ft) flat was already home to Feng, her son, her daughter-in-law and her grandson, but if one more person lived under the roof, the family would qualify for more compensation from the developer.
Feng, now 65, said she initially thought about buying a counterfeit marriage certificate to present as evidence of a husband.
“But I was advised by a relative that this was risky. The authorities would very likely find out,” she said.
If she had gone ahead – and the authorities had found out – Feng could now be facing a range of penalties detailed in a statement released last week by the National Development and Reform Commission, one of the country’s top economic planning agencies.
Forging such documents has always been illegal under criminal law, with offenders facing up to three years in jail. But forged marriage documents were usually detected and rejected during the application process and seldom led to legal action, according to Chinese media reports.