China should lower the legal minimum age for marriage to 18 years of age, Huang Xihua, a National People's Congress deputy said on Sunday.

Under China's current law women can marry at 20 and men 22.

"China's Marriage Law of 1980 has led to more social problems such as increasing number of 'surplus male surplus female', older mothers as well as cohabitation without marriage among young people," Huang said.

"Lowering the minimum marriage age will better protect the health of women and children and promote the prenatal and postnatal care," Huang said.

"The lowering marriage motion is not to encourage early marriage, but people of 18-year-old, as an adult, have rights to decide when to get married," Huang added.

A survey on Weibo.com involving over 17,000 participants show that 43.2 percent support the motion and 42.7 percent oppose, 14.1 percent saying they do not concern about this.