THE mobility of Chinese urban residents will be substantially enhanced next year as part of the nationwide drive to revamp the outdated household registration system.
The new policy, which comes into effect in January, aims to ease the restrictions for job seekers in cities, according to sources in Beijing.
City dwellers, who swarmed from inland to the richer coastal regions, will be able to apply for jobs and rights of residency by presenting their identity cards to the authorities.
In the past, they were required to return to the place where they registered their household to file the application. Such controls have imposed strict limitations for 40 years on where people could live and work.
The same set of measures would apply to people who wanted to study in other provinces, sources said.
Analysts said the new measures would facilitate the inter-regional and inter-provincial flow of urban workers which has accelerated since China began its economic reforms.
