Employers divorced from marriage permission rules

GETTING married in China became easier yesterday as new rules took effect that eliminate a requirement for couples to get the permission of their employers before they tie the knot.

The new marriage rules add to a series of social reforms that increasingly are liberating Chinese private lives from unpopular government controls.

The change took effect on China's National Day, which every year sees a surge in weddings.

Many couples had held off registering their weddings until the change took effect and long lines formed at government offices around the country, state broadcaster China Central Television reported.

Television showed couples marrying at mass public weddings, tree planting ceremonies and other specially organised events. One couple was shown exchanging vows submerged in an aquarium tank, diving bells over their heads, while tropical fish swam past.

Among other recent reforms, the government said last month that tens of millions of Chinese are now eligible to apply for passports without getting approval from their employers.

But one of the most disliked official restrictions the household registration system that dictates where Chinese may live is still in effect. The government has given no indication that it might be repealed.

The decades-old marriage laws are a throwback to an era when all Chinese worked for the state or communes and needed their permission to travel, get an education or marry.

The new marriage rules also eliminate requirements for pre-wedding health examinations and for couples to get permission from their employers to divorce.

Like many official functions, permission for marriage became a source of corruption for authorities who demanded bribes in exchange for approving a wedding.

The official Xinhua News Agency acknowledged that this week, saying the old regulations were "just a formality or moneymaking procedure in some areas".