MPS: China's Registered Residence Management System Will Not Be Abolished

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 26, 2002

MPS: China's Registered Residence Management System Will Not Be Abolished

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Bao Suixian, deputy director of the Public Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), emphasized in Beijing on February 25 that the registered residence management system, as an important component part of China's administrative management, will exist for a long time, and "registered residence" is not to be changed, not now, nor in the future.

Bao made the remarks in relevance to the recent saying that China is likely to abolish the registered residence system. He noted that the registered residence system is one of the population management methods commonly used in many countries around the world, Japan, Thailand, Sweden, Norway and some other Eastern and Western countries all institute such management systems, they differ only in name, for instance, some are called "registered residence management", others are called "civil affairs registration", their actual role and content are the same.

Bao said that the registered residence management system plays a conspicuous role in social management. On the one hand, it can prove one's identification and thereby determine one's civil right and disposing capacity through the registration of a citizen's identity; on the other hand, it can provide basic data and materials for the government to formulate plans for national economic and social development, and the rational allocation of labor force. In addition, for public security organs, registered residence management is the foundation and focal point of public security management, it has played a tremendous role in maintaining public order and cracking down on crimes. Bao also pointed out that the identification card cannot completely replace the residence booklet, although they both are legal certificates proving the citizen's identity, the residence booklet, besides possessing the function of proving an individual's identity, has the special role in testifying family relationship and even blood lineage, its role is currently irreplaceable.

Bao emphasized that the registered residence system reform now under way in China does not aim to abolish the registered household system, but rather it makes necessary improvement and betterment in compliance with the need for the development of the market economy, so that the registered residence system can advance with time and promote the healthy and orderly development of the national economy and individuals under the condition of the market economy.

Continuing to Relax Restriction on Domicile Change

China will further relax restriction on residents' change of domicile and finally achieve the goal that Chinese citizens with a fixed residence, job and source of income can settle their households with the local police substation.

He said that one of the basic orientations for China's registered residence management is to take "fixed, legal residence, a stable job or source of income" as the basic settlement condition, to adjust the policy on urban domicile change and continue to relax restriction on domicile change.

In the light of the currently existing dual management mode of agricultural and non-agricultural households, Bao said that China's registered residence management will, in accordance with the principle of residence registration in the dwelling locality, gradually break the dual residence management structure featuring the division of urban and rural areas, and establish an urban-rural unified residence registration system.

In fact, Jilin, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian and Liaoning provinces had, in the latter half of last year, successively declared abolition of the division of agricultural and non-agricultural populations and instituted the integration of urban-rural residence registration management and unified registration as "residents' households".

He assured that China's registered residence management system cannot be abolished, because registered residence management is an important component part of the country's administrative management, and provides basic data for the government to work out various policies and allocate labor force, furthermore, population management is the foundation of public order management.

He pointed out that the registered residence itself imposes no restriction on Chinese citizens who, in fact, can engage in free activities in various parts of the country, "only the form of expression of residence is differentiated into permanent residence and temporary residence".

At present, China has a floating population of 80 million, 50 million of which are registered as temporary resident population.

He said for a long time, residence had been attached with excessive irrational functions, such as employment, education and medical treatment. An important aspect of the registered residence system reform is to gradually strip off these functions and "return residence to its true features".

He disclosed that China will soon issue second-generation citizen identification cards, investigation work for the enactment of a Registered Permanent Residence Law is under way. The work relating to the reform of China's small town registered residence management system is going on smoothly.

According to the incomplete statistics released by the Public Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), by mid-December 2001, 1.386 million qualified people in Tianjin, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Henan, Chongqing, Xinjiang and other localities had performed the formality for settlement in small towns. The work relating to the reform of China's small town registered residence management system has been proceeding smoothly.

Acting in the spirit defined by the Third Plenary Session of the 14th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concerning gradual reform of the small town registered residence management system and promotion of the transfer of surplus rural labor force, the Ministry of Public Security submitted the Pilot Plan for the Small Town Registered Residence System Reform to the State Council in 1995. In June 1997, the State Council transmitted this pilot plan and put into trial implementation for two years in related provinces and cities. On the basis of success gained in experimentation, in March 2001, the State Council issued to lower levels the State Council Circular Transmitting the Opinion of the Ministry of Public Security Concerning Expediting Small Town Registered Residence Management System Reform and called on various localities to make comprehensive arrangements for this work in accordance with the requirement of the circular before October 1, 2001.

Over the past year since implementation of the small town registered residence system reform, public security organizations in various localities have strictly carried out relevant policy stipulations concerning residence management and the MPS' Specification on Handling the Work Relating to Residents' Identification Cards, changed their style of work and further simplified work procedures. At present, in the districts of China's county-level cities, in towns where county people's governments are located and other organic towns, most of the personnel with fixed, legal residences, stable jobs and source of income as well as their lineal relatives living together with them have smoothly handled permanent residences in towns in accordance with their own wishes.

By People's Daily Online

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