Melanie Kathleen Chilley and Robert David Cole have just become the first foreign couple granted marriage certificate by authorities in Guangzhou since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.

Huang Pingxin, an official with the Guangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau, handed on Saturday the red marriage certificate to the British couple, who had been in love with each other for ten years.

Robert, working for a European illumination appliance company, was sent to Guangzhou last October and Melanie flew to the southern China city six weeks later.

They decided to register their marriage in China, which is allowed by British laws and China's new marriage register regulations promulgated earlier this year.

According to the new regulations, foreign couples can register their marriage with Chinese civil affairs department by providing materials including passports, bachelordom certificates and certificates of their homeland accepting the validity of marriage registration abroad.

Source: Xinhua