Undergoing a premarital medical exam: if a serious illness is present, it must be disclosed before marriage registration

In most regions, the exam is provided free of charge or at a reduced cost for eligible individuals; otherwise it costs only a few hundred yuan. The procedure itself takes about half a day.

The legal consequence of concealment is clear. The new marriage-registration regulation provides that “where one party has a serious disease, that party shall truthfully inform the other party before marriage registration; where that is not done truthfully, the other party may, under Article 1053 of the Civil Code, ask a people’s court to revoke the marriage.” The state treats the premarital check as the first gate in preventing birth defects. The current targets are that “the premarital medical examination rate and the coverage rate of the target population for pre-pregnancy eugenic health checks remain above 70% and 80% respectively.” The document also requires “promoting premarital medical examination institutions and marriage-registration places being sited near each other for public convenience,” and promoting “one-stop” service for “marriage registration, premarital medical examination, and fertility guidance.” The Civil Code provides that a party with a serious disease shall truthfully inform before marriage registration; if not, the other party may ask a people’s court to revoke the marriage. A request to revoke must be made within one year of the day the person knew or should have known the ground for revocation. The premarital check is not a precondition for registering. A 2022 reply by the Tai’an Municipal Health Commission to a CPPCC proposal stated: “While the 2003 Marriage Registration Regulation cancelled ‘mandatory premarital checks,’ it also made clear that marriage-registration authorities must not attach other duties when handling registration.” Article 8 of the current regulation’s list of marriage-registration materials also has no premarital-check certificate. Annulment requires filing a court action. The ordinary first-instance procedure is normally completed within 6 months, subject to extension, and lawyer fees are generally paid by the client.

全国人大 (2020). 民法典（第一千零五十三条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202006/t20200602_463888.shtml；国务院 (2025). 婚姻登记条例（国令第 804 号，第八、十二条）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202504/content_7017752.htm；国家卫生健康委办公厅 (2023). 出生缺陷防治能力提升计划（2023—2027 年）（国卫办妇幼发〔2023〕9 号）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202308/content_6900320.htm；国家卫生健康委等五部门 (2020). 关于加强婚前保健工作的通知（国卫妇幼函〔2020〕205 号）：「积极倡导各地结合实际推行免费婚前检查」. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2020-05/22/content_5513902.htm；泰安市卫生健康委员会 (2022). 《关于婚前医学检查管理的建议》的答复（市政协十四届一次会议第 188 号）. http://www.taian.gov.cn/art/2022/7/8/art_176934_24592.html

Since 2003, premarital health examinations have not been a mandatory step for obtaining a marriage certificate; going for one is voluntary. However, the clause regarding "failing to truthfully disclose major illnesses" does indeed grant the other party the right to petition the court to annul the marriage, provided the petition is filed within one year from the date the person knew or should have known the ground for annulment. There is no unified national regulation regarding free premarital exams. The notice issued in 2020 by five departments, including the National Health Commission, only stated to "actively advocate for local implementation of free premarital examinations based on local actual conditions." Therefore, whether exams are free and which items are included are determined by each locality; please inquire at the one-stop service window of your local maternal and child health care institution or marriage registration office.