China will expand a pilot program for inter-provincial marriage registration services, according to a State Council reply to the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued on May 18.

Twenty-one provincial regions -- Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Ningxia -- will be endorsed as pilot regions for inter-provincial marriage and divorce registration.

In these regions, if both parties for marriage registration are non-local, they can apply using either residence permit, where it was issued, along with both parties' household registration permits and identity cards.

The applicants can still apply in the region where either side has a household registration, according to the circular.

The new pilot program will last two years.