Marriage fraudsters suspected of using fake ID cards and other documentation to make a marriage registration will be detained and punished in conformity to the law, according to the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau.

Last year, the bureau detected 386 cases of marriage registration with fake ID cards or other documents, the Beijing News reported on Saturday.

Currently, China's marriage registration system has not been linked to the country's household registration system. "Fraudsters exploit loopholes in the marriage registration system and use fake ID cards to cheat others into marriage," an official of the bureau said.

Fraudsters often disappear after they have swindled money or other property out of their "spouses" a few days or several months after the "marriage", the official said.

In most cases discovered in Beijing in recent years, most fraudsters were female from regions outside of the capital. The victims were males who have financial or other difficulties in finding a spouse.

Because the fraudsters are using fake ID cards and other documents, it is difficult for police to track them.

From this year, civil affairs authorities will intensify measures from the very beginning of registration to ward off marriage fraud and protect the benefits of people, the official said.

Besides being equipped with modern ID detectors, civil affairs bureaus will cooperate more closely with police from this year. "The police will train civil affairs staffs on how to discern fake ID cards from real ones," the official said.

When suspect fake ID cards or other document are discovered, they can be handed over to police. The police will then assist civil affairs staff in discerning whether they are genuine.

Violators will be punished strictly according to the law, the sources stressed.

(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2008)