People.cn:

In recent years, the MCA has planned and implemented plenty of reforms and innovative measures, such as marriage registration service provided on a cross-provincial basis and reforms of wedding customs, which have won great popularity. My question is, since the 18th CPC National Congress, what breakthroughs have been made in furthering reforms by the MCA. Thanks. 

Zhan Chengfu:

Thank you for your question. The reform of wedding customs has attracted attention from the whole society. I am in charge of this area of work, and will give some additional details. 

Getting married should be a wonderful and happy thing, but in some places, it becomes a burden on individuals because of some issues and unhealthy phenomena such as high-price betrothal gifts for brides, high-profile weddings, vulgarly teasing the bride and bridegroom, and presenting a gift of a large amount of money for a wedding. A joyful occasion becomes vexatious. People expect that we can retrieve the unhealthy situation and change malpractice in wedding customs. Since 2018, the MCA has put the reform of wedding customs high on the agenda, and in April and September 2021, respectively, set up 32 reform pilot zones in two batches throughout the country. Some local pilot zones have also been set up in provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, according to actual conditions. So far, the following aspects have taken effect.  

First, we have controlled undesirable customs such as high-price betrothal gifts. In some pilot zones, publicity has been intensified to enhance the public's awareness of the hazards of unhealthy customs, such as high-price betrothal presents and high-profile weddings. Particular cases have been used to explain the related laws and regulations. In some pilot zones, relevant rules and regulations have been rolled out. In some pilot zones, mass weddings play a demonstrative role.  In other pilot zones, high-price betrothal gifts are regulated through formulating codes of conduct for rual and urban residents. 

Second, we have advocated for healthy and harmonious family traditions. Many pilot zones have adopted various approaches to pass on and spread good family education and family tradition for people to follow. 

Third, we have strengthened marriage and family counseling services. I want to inform you of some data. At present, more than 75% of county-level marriage registration offices have set up marriage counseling rooms. With the support of administrative bodies, counseling services can make marriages more harmonious and satisfying. 

So far, the reforms in various pilot zones have been effective and received positive comments from the society. Unhealthy customs such as high-price betrothal gifts and high-profile weddings have been effectively reined in. From the perspective of civil affairs, there is a lot marriage-related work to do. For instance, we have pushed marriage registration services forward in recent years, providing them on a cross-provincial basis and piloting the measures in seven provinces, and receiving positive reviews from the public. In the next phase, we will expand the scope of this reform to benefit more people. We will intensify efforts to build more marriage registration facilities and infrastructure, advance the level of digitalization for marriage registrations, and convert all marriage registration information taken since the founding of the People's Republic of China to digital records. The scope of pilot reforms will continue to expand. We will speed up the process and enable the results of marriage registration reforms to benefit more people.  

Thank you.