According to a 1992 Summary of the Family Planning Regulations for 28 Regions in China, written by staff of the State Family Planning Commission, regional differences with respect to family planning regulations include aspects involving remarried couples. According to this document:

The birth policy for remarried couples is an important element in the regional-policy of making allowances for couples to have two children. All the 28 regional regulations stipulated that if one of the two parties of a remarried couple had only had one child and the other party was childless, then they could have another child. Hebei, Shanxi, Neimongol, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Hainan, Sichuan and Ningxia provinces and regions also stipulated that if one of the two parties of a remarried couple was childless, and the other party who had had two children (in some provinces the two children must be births within the birth plans) and whose former spouse was dead, then they could also have second child. However, in Yunnan province, this stipulation only applied to - agricultural populations. Shanxi, Shandong, Guangdong and Hainan provinces stipulated that if both partners of the remarried couple had a child before remarrying, and both their children were living with their former spouses in accordance with the court decision in their divorce, so that the new family was childless, they were permitted to have a child.

According to a June 1998 article in Contemporary Women's Issues:

Although the one-child policy was issued on the national level, each province decides the circumstances under which couples may have two children, so as to implement the policy in accordance with local social, economic, political and cultural conditions.

In Anhui and other rural provinces these circumstances include "a remarried couple have fewer than two living children and both spouses are returned overseas Chinese" (ibid.).

The following are some provincial regulations that provide exceptions to one-child policies for persons who have remarried.

Article 8 of the 1995 "Jiangxi Regulations Governing Family Planning" states that a couple can have another child if "one spouse of a remarried couple had a daughter prior to remarrying and the other has never had a child" (Jiangxi Ribao 9 July 1995). Before having the child they must first obtain a "Repeat Planned Birth Certificate" (ibid.).

Article 8 of the 1992 Guandong Family Planning Regulations states that a couple can have another child if:

One side of the remarried couple has only given birth to one child and the other side has not or both sides of the remarried couple who have given birth to one child before remarriage and the child have [sic] been judged to the ex-spouse at divorce according to the law and no child in the remarried family (28 Nov. 1992).

Article 6 of the 1991 Fujian Province Family Planning Regulations states that a couple can have another child if "either one of the couple has or both husband and wife have remarried and the total number of children they bore before their second marriage does not exceed one" (10 July 1991). Furthermore, Article 9 states:

In the case of minority nationalities (except the Zhuang nationality), if the couple are both farmers or working in organizations, enterprises and establishments of minority nationality townships or villages, or living in towns and cities, they can plan to bear two children. Those who conform to one of the following requirements can bear one more child if they wish to do so: ...

Either one of the couple has or both husband and wife have remarried and the total number of children they bore before their second marriage does not exceed two;

In cases where one of the couple is of the Han nationality and the other is of a minority nationality (except the Zhuang nationality) living in a minority nationality township or village, and the one of the Han nationality has married to settle into the minority nationality and their offspring has been deemed to be of the minority nationality according to the relevant regulations, the provisions of the above section regarding the limit on number of offspring shall apply (ibid.).

Article 10 states:

... Persons who conform to the provisions of Articles 6 to 9 of these regulations and who desire to bear a second or third child should apply to the township (town) people's government or neighbourhood office which will investigate and report to the family planning department of the county (city, district) for approval. The interval between two births should not be less than four years. Those who have received arrangement or approval for bearing children will be issued a family planning certificate (ibid.).

Article 11 of the 1990 Henan Family Planning Rules and Regulations states that a remarried couple can have another child "if before their marriage, only one side has a child, but the other side has none" (4 June 1990).

Article 10 of the 1987 Sichuan Province Birth Planning Rules and Changing Birth Rate provides:

Those who can meet one of the following requirements may have a second child.

1. A widower or widow remarries and before the remarriage, the widower or widow has fewer than two children, while the spouse has no children; and

2. Husband or wife who remarries after a divorce and before the remarriage, one side has only one child, while the other has no children (China Facts and Figures Annual 1989)

In other information, a 13 January 1994 article in the Far Eastern Economic Review states that "A translator for a foreign multinational says it took him three months of bureaucratic haggling, about Rmb 300 (US$35) in cash bribes plus assorted gifts of tea, wine and cigarettes to win the right to have a second child when he remarried after an earlier divorce."

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

China Facts and Figures Annual. 1989. Vol. 12. "Sichuan Province Birth Planning Rules and Changing Birth Rate."

China, Fujian Province. 10 July 1991. Fujian Province Family Planning Regulations. Translated by Public Works and Government Services Canada, 23 November 1999.

Contemporary Women's Issues. June 1998. Maureen J. Graham, Ulla Larsen, and Xiping Xu. "Son Preference in Anhui Province, China." (NEXIS)

Far Eastern Economic Review. 13 January 1994. Lincoln Kaye. "Quality Control: Eugenics Bill Defended Against Western Critics."

Guangdong Family Planning Regulation. 28 November 1992. Unofficial Translation by Ms Penny Kane. Standing Committee of the 7th Guangdong People's Congress, Revised by the Twenty-Nineth Session of the Standing Committee of the Seventh Guangdong People's Congress.

Hebei Ribao [Shijiazhuang, in Chinese]. 22 February 1996. "PRC: Hebei Issues Family Planning Regulations." (FBIS-CHI-96-095 22 Feb. 1996/WNC)

Henan Family Planning Rules and Regulations. 4 June 1990. (BBC Summary)

Jiangxi Ribao [Nanchang, in Chinese]. 9 July 1995. "Jiangxi Issues Family Planning Regulations." (FBIS-CHI-95-183 21 Sept. 1995)

A Summary of the Family Planning Regulations for 28 Regions in China. 1992. Feng Guoping and Hao Linna. Translated from Population Research (in Chinese), No. 4. Department of Policy and Regulations, State Family Planning Commission, China.