China to roll out urban hukou welcome mat for rural residents in push for economic growth

The government plans to revamp residency rules to speed up the shift to cities to spur the economy and cushion blows from the US trade war

The hukou system has blocked many migrant workers from access to social services and deterred them from spending, analyst says

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About 40 per cent of the 400 million people working in cities are migrant workers. Photo: AP

Published: 11:00am, 7 Mar 2021Updated: 2:37pm, 12 Mar 2021

Corrected [2:36pm, 12 Mar, 2021]

[2:36pm, 12 Mar, 2021]
An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that the hukou system is based on the person’s birthplace. It is based on the birthplace of the person’s parents.

China is preparing to overhaul its decades-old household registration system to allow people from rural areas to become permanent residents in cities, as the country ramps up urbanisation to spur growth.

To speed up “full integration” of rural residents into cities, China plans to loosen residency restrictions in most urban areas and launch a points system to replace the household registration system, or hukou, according to a draft of the government’s 14th five-year plan.

The draft, released on Friday at the opening session of the National People’s Congress, aims for 65 per cent of the country’s population to be living in cities by 2025.

That compares with 60.6 per cent at the end of 2019, and will mean 10 million people making the move each year to reach the target.

About 40 per cent of the 400 million people working in cities are “migrant workers” from rural areas, according to official data.

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