China's hukou reform plans will improve the lot of millions, over time

Under a just-announced proposal in China's ongoing huko u reform, the country's 900 million rural residents will no longer be designated as such. While their lives will not change for the better overnight, many may become better integrated urban residents by the end of this decade - if the government's programmes go according to plan.

Premier Li Keqiang has set out ambitious goals of better lives for millions of Chinese. At its heart is a target to permanently resettle an additional 100 million rural residents in cities by 2020.

This involves giving permanent residency to rural migrants already working in the city, or encouraging rural residents in central and western China to permanently move to a nearby town or city.

The urban integration of migrant workers will happen in phases. The government has already eased the way for them to gain permanent residency in smaller cities. But for large cities, where the more attractive economic opportunities are, the hurdles remain high.

While there are about 270 million workers of rural origin in towns and cities, only about 170 million are strictly migrant workers - the rest stay close to their homes.

Significantly fewer than half of migrant workers want to convert to an urban hukou, for a variety of economic and personal reasons. Given the difficulties of resettling in a major city, there is also a mismatch between where migrant workers want to settle, and where they are welcome to do so.