Pan Xiting met his bride Chen Adi eight years ago, and she has taken care of him since then, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Their former spouses died years ago.

"Now, we are a family and we will never separate from each other until death," Pan was quoted as saying after the civil ceremony Friday in the port city of Wenzhou.

There was a small hiccup during the process of arranging the latest nuptials: "We were told that we needed to show our residence cards to get married, but Chen's has been lost for a long time," Pan said.

Local officials relented after getting to know the couple's story.

"We believe that Madam Chen means more than a companion to Mr. Pan and we hope they will have a happy married life," said Zheng Guangliang, deputy director of the Lucheng District civil affairs bureau.

The couple is among the oldest to have ever married. In 2002, Francois Fernandez, 96, and Madeleine Francineau, 94, exchanged vows at the rest home Le Foyer du Romarin, Clapiers, France — giving them a total aggregate in years of 190, according to the Guinness Book of World Records — three more than Chen and Pan.