China jails co-habiting couple

A court in Shanghai has sentenced a couple to jail on charges of bigamy.

Wang Yongzhong, 51, was ruled to have committed the crime by living together with his girlfriend, even though he and his previous partner had never legally married.

Times have changed, there's nothing wrong with [married people dating]

Chinese match-making agency

The case comes as China vows to crack down on adultery and bigamy, which has become increasingly common.

New draft rules to punish unfaithful husbands are currently being hotly debated by lawmakers.

'Stop living together'

The Shanghai court sentenced Mr Wang to eight months in prison and his partner Wang Jun to three months. It also ordered the couple to stop living together.

The government wants to preserve the family, which it says is key to social stability

The couple had been together for four years and have a young child.

Although they had never tried to register as married, the court ruled their behaviour amounted to marriage.

Similarly it ruled that Mr Wang, by living with his previous partner for 16 years, was in effect already married and therefore guilty of bigamy.

It said a separation agreement that Mr Wang had signed with his first partner was invalid because it had not been drawn up through legal channels.

Wives seek redress

China's parliament is believed to have rejected proposals from the country's official Women's Federation to make adultery a crime, but is discussing giving wives more compensation.

Shanghai's rising murder rate has been blamed on extra-marital affairs

The protracted debate on marriage laws follows widespread complaints from abandoned first wives.

Without any satisfactory existing laws on compensation, such women are increasingly seeking redress by accusing their husbands of bigamy.

A Beijing court recently jailed two men on such charges, even though one had legally divorced his first wife by the time the case was heard.

Local media in Guangdong province reported that mistresses were now also demanding inheritance rights.

Matchmaking agencies

A recent undercover study on the booming matchmaking agencies in China found that they had been helping married people find lovers.

One operator was reported to have said: "Times have changed, there's nothing wrong with [married people dating]."

The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which conducted the study, has called on the government to crack down on the agencies.

Adultery on the rise

Extramarital affairs have become increasingly common in China, as old social mores on adultery have withered away and personal incomes have grown.

In the Cultural Revolution, some escaped labour in the countyside through marriage

Many people now turn a blind eye to adultery, says Chen Xinxin, who studies the problem for the Women's Federation.

Among those seeking love with new partners were people who married for convenience or political reasons during the country's more turbulent times.

Mr Chen told the AFP news agency that during the Cultural Revolution, some urban dwellers sent to the countryside to do hard labour alongside peasants married people who could help them return to the city.

Extramarital affairs have been blamed for the soaring murder rate in Shanghai.