The General Principles of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China, Article 147, also set forth the principle that a divorce shall be bound by the law of the place where a court accepts the case. According to the Marriage Law of People's Republic of China, if both partners of a marriage seek a divorce voluntarily, they may go to the appropriate marriage registration office to file the registration for divorce. If one of the partners requests a divorce and the other does not agree, the former can then file a divorce suit with the court. But registration for divorce with the marriage registration office is not applicable to a foreign-related marriage.
All cases of divorce in China concerning a foreign-related marriage must be filed with the court. In order for the Chinese court to accept such a case, at least one of the partners of the marriage must either have Chinese residency and be physically present in the territory of the People's Republic of China or have resided continuously in China for at least one year. Provided the above requirement is met, in case the other partner of the marriage resides outside China, the one requesting a divorce may file a divorce suit with the intermediate people's court in the place where he or she lives, or where his or her residency is registered. Otherwise, if the partner requesting a divorce lives overseas, he or she may file the suit with the intermediate people's court in the place where either the other partner of the marriage lives or that partner's residency is registered.