Database to help prevent bigamy

BEIJING - Cases of marriage fraud will become less common if the establishment of a national marriage database in 2012 has the effect top civil authorities want it to.

The database, which was announced on Friday, will record the marital statuses of Chinese citizens who tied the knot in the past six decades. That information will be uploaded to the Internet next year, said Li Liguo, civil affairs minister.

So far, 25 provinces and autonomous regions have set up their own online databases, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.