The legal age of marriage in Chinese mainland, Hongkong and Taiwan Province should be no earlier than 18 for men and 16 for women.
The legal marriage age stipulated in China Civil Code 1950 is 20 years for men and 18 years for women. Therefore, it is stipulated that "men should not be earlier than 22 years old and women should not be earlier than 20 years old". In this revision of the Civil Code, some comrades suggested that the age of marriage for men and women should be unified as a standard, which can be 22 or 20 years old.
The provisions on the age of marriage in China's civil code are not mandatory or optimal, but the minimum age of marriage, which is the age boundary between illegal marriage and legal marriage. You can't get married until you reach the legal age for marriage, otherwise it's illegal. The legal age of marriage does not prevent men and women from voluntarily postponing marriage according to their own circumstances. In order to implement China's family planning policy, the Civil Code also encourages late marriage and late childbirth. Some units use the age of marriage with preferential policies instead of the legal age of marriage, and it is not appropriate for both men and women to get married before this age. The law advocates late marriage, not compulsory late marriage, nor does it mean that the later the marriage, the better.
In order to ensure the strict implementation of the Marriage Age Law, the Regulations on the Administration of Marriage Registration stipulates: "If the parties applying for marriage are unable to obtain the required documents due to the interference of the unit or others, the marriage registration authority shall also register and issue a marriage certificate if it is found that it conforms to the provisions of the Civil Code and these Measures."