Database of marriages suggested

The judge complained about the lack of marriage information nationally, saying she would like to see the loophole closed. Women ought to have a full understanding about a man before getting

 married to him, she said.

"Some women blindly marry because they think they're getting old and have a lot of pressure from family, which is not sensible," she said.

Liu, the Beijing lawyer, said people face two years in prison at most for bigamy under the current Chinese Criminal Law.

He suggested that public security bureaus responsible for managing residency should update marriage information in a man's household booklet.

Timeline of one man's multiple marriages

March 2008 Chen Liangtao met a woman and married her in Beijing. A week after Chen registered the first marriage, he married a second wife in Shan-dong province.

March 2010 Chen had children with the wives. But later, both divorced him.

June 2010 Chen met a woman from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and then married her.

August 2012 He registered a marriage with a fourth woman in Henan province.

Early 2015 The first woman sued him in a child-rearing dispute.

August 2015 Chen was arrested.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn