China should further ease population controls by lowering one of the world's highest marriage ages to encourage more births as the nation grows old, according to a lawmaker.
Huang Xihua, a member of the National People's Congress (NPC) gathering in Beijing, proposes cutting the minimum marriage age to 18 for both sexes and shifting policy to encourage more children. Under current law, men must be 22 to marry and women must be 20.
"The high marriageable age limit was introduced with the population controls," Huang said in an interview, adding that the change will protect young couples in de facto marriages as well as their children, who cannot obtain the "hukou" residency registrations required to access many social services under existing regulations. "Now we have already allowed two babies, and we should give that choice back to people."