BEIJING - Chinese authorities ended the practice of requiring manual marriage registration around the end of June this year by setting up a national network and database for marriage registration covering all of the country's 31 provincial regions.

A provincial marriage network and database has also been set up in each provincial region to allow local agencies to offer online marriage registration and verify individuals' marital status based on national data, an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs said at a news briefing on Tuesday.

"The national database will help to effectively prevent bigamy and improve the services offered by marriage registration agencies," said Yu Jianliang, director of the ministry's social affairs bureau.

Civil affairs bureaus are now working to update data for the national network, the ministry said.

The Beijing municipal civil affairs bureau has signed an agreement with the municipal archives bureau to share information regarding historical information on marriage registration.

The Beijing municipal civil affairs bureau plans to finish data regarding marriage registrations that took place after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 by the end of this year.

The ministry plans to exchange and share marital information with foreign affairs departments and relevant agencies in Hongkong, Macao and Taiwan in the future in order to set up a national marital status database for all of the country's citizens, according to Yu.