Marriage Transmitted Debts in the Chinese Civil Code: The Beginning of a Solution Rather Than the End

This paper proposes ‘marriage transmitted debt’ (‘MTD’) in China as a new concept as opposed to ‘sexually transmitted debt’ (‘STD’) documented in English and Australian jurisprudence. MTD refers to debts incurred by one spouse but transmitted to the other spouse due to the status of the marriage. While the statutory language of MTD regulation in the Chinese Civil Code (‘the Code’) is neutral, wives are still disadvantaged. Although this has been partly addressed by shifting the onus of proof on creditors, the meaning of debts incurred for the daily life of a family or the joint life of the couple in the Code needs further judicial development. Supported by empirical statistics, the paper argues that the Code is the beginning of a solution rather than the end.