China to expand rural access to urban welfare benefits in push for economic growth

Name: Chinese reluctant to have children as China reports first population fall in 61 years
Uploaded: 2023-01-29T22:00:18.000Z
Duration: 2 min 14 s
Description: Chinese reluctant to have children as China reports first population fall in 61 years

More than a dozen government agencies vow to make it easier for migrants in cities to tap into public services, such as healthcare

Authorities hope the process will boost economic activity as the country grapples with a shrinking population and the fallout from the coronavirus

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More than a dozen central government agencies have vowed to make it easier for migrants from rural areas to get access to an urban hukou. Photo: AFP

Frank Tangin Beijing

Published: 6:00am, 30 Jan 2023Updated: 9:38am, 30 Jan 2023

The Chinese government is redoubling efforts to help rural people moving to cities tap into welfare services as it presses on with a poverty alleviation drive and tries to shore up economic growth against demographic headwinds.

In a notice on Saturday, 19 government departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Finance and the People’s Bank of China, pledged to improve conditions in resettlement areas, create job opportunities and give more people access to urban welfare benefits.

“We’ll make it easier for [rural] people to receive an urban hukou,” the notice said, referring to a household registration document that determines where a person can access public welfare services such as healthcare and education.

“Residence permits will be promoted to ensure people have equal access to public services in cities, while their legitimate interests in home villages will be protected.”

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Chinese reluctant to have children as China reports first population fall in 61 years

The notice also said job prospects and living conditions would be improved in small and medium-sized cities to encourage relocation.

China has been encouraging people from remote and often poor villages to move to bigger centres where they have better access to public services and job opportunities.

This urbanisation process has also been a key driver of growth, bringing much-needed people for manufacturing and service jobs, stimulating government spending on infrastructure and housing, and lifting consumer spending.

Between 2016 and 2020, the government spent about 600 billion yuan (US$88.4 billion) on relocation programmes, moving about 9.6 million people and building 2.66 million units of housing across 22 provinces, according to data from the NDRC, the nation’s top economic planner.