China

Around 3% of girls in China are married before the age of 18. This is a UNICEF estimate based on Chinese population records, but the estimate is not officially endorsed by the National Bureau of Statistics China.

Child marriage is driven by gender inequality and the belief that women and girls are somehow inferior to men and boys.

There is very limited information on child marriage in China, however there is evidence to suggest that child marriage is driven by:

● Demographics: a growing number of reports point out that the significant gender imbalance caused by China’s one child policy and gender selective abortion has resulted in an increase of child marriage and trafficking.

● Bride trafficking: in vulnerable households, girls are seen as an “economic asset” to be sold as a child bride. Many families are also willing to buy a trafficked bride from neighbouring countries. For example, a 2016 study by the UN Action for Cooperation against Trafficking in Persons highlights cases of young Cambodian girls being trafficked to China to marry. There are also reports of young girls from Vietnam being forcibly married there. In 2019, Human Rights Watch reported cases of bride trafficking from Kachin and Shan states (Myanmar) into China.

● COVID-19: The pandemic has had a negative impact on the rights of girls and women in China, and in some cases has made them more vulnerable to forms of violence, such as child marriage. For example, during China’s travel lockdown, domestic violence against women in China leapt by two to three times in some areas, according to an anti-domestic violence organisation, amid rising economic and domestic strains. Survivors also had fewer options for escape and weaker social support.

China has committed to ending child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The government submitted a Voluntary National Review at the 2021 High Level Political Forum; however, there was no mention of child marriage. The government has not submitted a Voluntary National Review in any High Level Political Forum since.

China ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992, which the Committee on the Rights of the Child has interpreted to recommend the establishment of a minimum age of marriage of 18, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1980, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

During its 2023 review, the CEDAW Committee raised concern at the lack of comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation, and the lack of clarity regarding whether the government criminalizes all forms of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, forced labour, illegal adoptions, and child marriage. The Committee raised with concern that China is a destination country for trafficking in women and girls from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for the purpose of child marriage, sexual exploitation or concubinage. The Committee recommended that the government adopt comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation that is in line with international standards, strengthen the identification and referrals of victims of trafficking, and ensure that victims of trafficking have access to support services, temporary resident permits, rehabilitation programmes and shelter.

Ahead of China’s 2013 Universal Periodic Review, the UN Human Rights Committee raised concerns that China is a source, transit and destination point for young girls who are subject to trafficking. Similar concerns regarding child trafficking were raised during China’s 2018 Universal Periodic Review.

Under the Marriage Law 2001 the minimum age of marriage is 22 years for men and 20 years for women.