BEIJING – Slowly but steadily, China is easing intrusive state control over the lives of its citizens. In recent weeks, Chinese leaders have made it easier to get a passport and relaxed rules on where citizens may live.
In the latest change, which takes effect Wednesday, the nation’s 1.3 billion citizens will be allowed to marry or divorce without permission from police or workplace bosses. Red banners festooned the Beijing municipal marriage registry center announcing “convenient” and “simple” rules for matrimony and divorce.
Such changes may seem minor to those outside China, but they offer relief for millions of Chinese and underscore the reduction of the oppressive state apparatus that was the hallmark of Communism. Streamlining the bureaucracy does not signal, however, any intention by the Communist Party to end its monopoly on power.
Instead, it is responding to unhappiness among many Chinese over the bureaucratic hassles that circumscribe some of their daily activities as the nation goes through changes brought about by rapid economic growth and the disintegration of a cradle-to-grave system of social welfare. Stability remains a major challenge for Communist leaders.

Author