Interpretations on "Marriage and Family": unregistered marriages
The Supreme People's Court's Interpretations on Issues Pertaining to the Application of Title Five "Marriage and Family" of The Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (I)
(Selected from translated works authored by Robert Zhang & Steve Li)
Article 7 Where a man and a woman who have not registered their marriage in accordance with Article 1049 of the Civil Code and have been living together as husband and wife and they file a lawsuit for divorce, the case shall be handled as follows:
(1) If the basic elemets of a marriage had been satisified before the entry into force of the Administrative Regulations for Marriage Registration (the "Regulations") issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on February 1, 1994, their relationship shall be deemed as a de facto marriage; and
(2) If the basic elemets of a marriage had been satisified after the entry into force of the Regulations, the people's court shall inform them to complete the marriage registration procedure.
Where they fail to complete the marriage registration procedure, the case shall be handled according to the provisions of Article 3 of these Interpretations.
Robert Zhang 
Steve Li 