Article 1 of the Interpretations of the Supreme People's Court on Issues Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China (II) states, "The people's court shall not accept any petition filed by a party for the termination of the cohabitation relationship. But the people's court shall accept the petition and terminate the "cohabitation of a married person with any third party" as stipulated in Articles 3, 32 and 46 of the Marriage Law. As can be seen, The cohabitation relationship which may be terminated by the people's court is "illegal cohabitation relationship" which violates the prohibitive provisions of the Marriage Law and damages the rights and interests of the parties to legal marriages. The cohabitation relationship between unmarried men and women without marriage registration is not a legal marriage relationship, which is neither protected nor prohibited. Neither party may appeal to the people's court to terminate such a cohabitation relationship. However, the people's court shall accept the petition by either party due to disputes over the division of property during their cohabitation or the maintenance of their child(ren), whether in case of an "illegal cohabitation relationship" mentioned above or the "cohabitation relationship" between unmarried ones not protected by law.
