China is reforming its household registration system to
gradually eliminate urban-rural division and bolster social
equality, according to sources attending a national conference on
public security yesterday.
Twelve provincial areas, including Hebei, Liaoning, Shandong, Guangxi as well as Chongqing Municipality, have launched trial
reforms to stop the differentiation between rural and urban
residents.
Beijing, Shanghai and some cities in Guangdong Province have eased restrictions
forcing people from rural areas to change their
identifications.
Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province also plans to institute
a trial reform on the household registration system within the
year.
Set up in 1958, China's household registration (hukou)
system divides the population into rural and non-rural households,
and individual rights such as education, healthcare, housing, and
employment are closely linked with household registration.
Under the system, rural citizens have little access to the
social welfare system in cities, although many have lived and
worked in cities for years.
In recent years, China has witnessed a mass migration of rural
labor to urban area, with more than 120 million migrant rural
workers moving to cities in search of work.
(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2007)