A man from East China's Jiangsu province, who married six times, has been sentenced to a year and a half in prison for bigamy.

The verdict was handed down at Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court.

Fu Xinzhen, a court official, said the 47-year-old defendant was the groom at six weddings in Beijing, Shanghai and his hometown in Jiangsu. Three of the marriages were registered. The six women gave birth to seven children, aged from 2 to 23.

On the birth certificate of one of his children, the father's name is registered as that of the defendant's younger brother. "They (my wives) wanted to have children," the man told the court. "I only registered the (legal) marriages for the sake of my children — they've got to have hukou (a residence permit)," he said.

Under Chinese law, bigamists can be imprisoned for a maximum of two years.