The prosperous Guangdong Province in South China is taking bold
steps in reforming the local household registration system,
including the elimination of traditional differences between rural
and urban registrations.
A
circular issued from the Public Security Bureau of Guangdong
Province states a standardized residence registration will replace
the old categories of rural and urban household registration.
Those eager to get a residence permit in cities in Guangdong will
have to meet a host of migration requirements instead of
restrictions imposed by the previous system of migration quota
controls.
The qualification terms are higher in large cities like Guangzhou,
Shenzhen and Zhuhai than in smaller cities.
The reform of the registration system is in accordance with
economic growth in the province, allowing the free flow of capital
and human resources, especially in cases involving high-level
talents.
To
attract talents, the new policy stipulates that high-tech talents -
including senior specialists with advanced education backgrounds or
highly skilled senior technicians with professional qualifications
- can be granted permission to reside in Guangdong along with their
immediate family members.
Native high-tech talents who are working in primary sectors in
cities outside Guangdong and have registered at their working
residence are also able to re-register to their original residence
if they choose.
Native born college students studying in universities or technical
schools in the province need no longer transfer their household
registration to schools and can directly transfer to the workplace
upon graduation.
Good news for foreign and overseas Chinese investors, plus
investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, is that they will be
granted resident permits ("green cards") in Guangdong along with
their relatives in China. Inland residents can also obtain resident
permits by purchasing or constructing houses here. Specific
qualification terms are drafted by local governments.
Spouses who are separated and living in different residences no
longer face the previous registration hurdles. They will embrace
the new flexibility that ends restrictions on the marriage period
and ages of spouses and their underage offspring in applying for
resident permits in Guangdong.
Key cities in Guangdong - Guangzhou and Shenzhen - continue to
employ the "controlling total quantity and bettering the population
structure" policy that applies to these issues. In the policy,
control of the annual population migration plan and elevating the
quality of the population are taken into equal consideration.
Both cities will encourage the flow of high-caliber specialists and
professionals outside Guangdong via flexible residence policies.
Those qualified are encouraged to live in the province along with
directly related family members.
The current household registration system, which began in 1958,
stipulates that all citizens should be registered at birth at the
Public Security department located in their permanent residence
areas. Once registered, it is difficult to make changes.
The traditional system, which is closely linked to one's
employment, marriage, children, schooling and urban status, has
restricted labor, talent and the free flow of capital, and hampered
social development.
(China Daily December 6,
2001)