China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs reported that 1.697 million couples registered marriages in the first quarter of 2026, a decline of 113,000 couples, or 6.24 percent, compared to the same period last year. Divorces totaled 622,000 registrations over the same period.
The drop comes after a brief rebound in 2025, when 6.763 million couples wed — up 10.76 percent from 2024’s record low of 6.106 million. China’s marriage numbers have broadly trended downward since peaking at 13.469 million couples in 2013, falling for 12 consecutive years before last year’s uptick.
Beijing has been actively promoting marriage and childbearing through a range of policy measures. A revised Marriage Registration Regulation took effect on May 10, 2025, eliminating regional restrictions and removing the household registration booklet requirement, allowing couples to register anywhere in the country. Following implementation, cross-provincial marriage registrations rose notably, with particularly strong growth in cities with large migrant populations.
Despite the first-quarter decline, demand for registrations on May 20 — pronounced “520” in Mandarin, a homophone for “I love you” — remains robust. Slots in major cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Wuxi, and Chengdu have already been fully booked for that date. Civil affairs bureaus in Shanghai, Wuxi, and other cities have announced that couples who are unable to secure advance appointments can still register on the day itself, provided they arrive during business hours.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), May 10, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202605100093.aspx