China Makes New Breakthrough in Bridging Gaps Between Rural, Urban Areas

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, April 02, 2003

China Makes New Breakthrough in Bridging Gaps Between Rural, Urban Areas

All children newly born to rural families in Beijing are eligible for urban household registration starting from April 1, according to the Beijing Municipal Public Bureau.

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All children newly born to rural families in Beijing are eligible for urban household registration starting from April 1, according to the Beijing Municipal Public Bureau.

A milestone in the reform of China's household registration system, this move will bring much freedom in choosing schools and jobs for the farmers living in the Beijing suburbs.

According to the bureau, which is in charge of the reform, students with rural household registration now studying in advanced vocational colleges and secondary technological schools may apply for urban household registration.

In addition, all the people with rural household registration now living in the satellite towns around Beijing may also apply for urban household registration if they have a stable job and a fixed residence.

Meng Fanrong, vice director of the population management office under the bureau, said this reform is unprecedented in the history of household registration in the capital, adding that it will greatly accelerate the urbanization of towns and promote the development of the rural areas of Beijing.

Meng said this reform will also greatly influence similar reforms to be conducted across the country.

The current household registration system was established in 1958 in line with the then prevailing planned economy, dividing the country into rural and urban areas and setting strict limits on migration of farmers to cities and towns.

The system has long been blamed for causing inefficient distribution of resources, with an excessive concentration of resources in urban areas and a brain drain from developing areas, according to experts.

Under such a system, many people from rural areas, though working in cities and paying due taxes, are not entitled to enjoy the medical, educational and other social welfare exclusively granted to the residents with urban household registration.

For instance, when a child is born in the rural area and has a rural household registration, he or she will be denied admission by many town schools even if the child has lived with his parents in town for a long time.

Wu Zhong, a farmer living in the Beijing suburbs, said his child is facing many restrictions in choosing a school due to his rural household registration, which has brought him a strong sense of inferiority.

The Chinese government has realized the negative side of the system and has undertaken to make improvements as mentioned in the draft plan for economic and social development for 2001-2005.

Like Beijing, many other cities in China are making a leap forward in loosening local household registration control.

Shenzhen, a special economic zone in south China's Guangdong province, is touching on the forbidden zone in the reform of its household registration system by allowing persons with no registered permanent residence to register with their relatives who live in the city.

The step, which takes effect on April 1, is unique in the household registration in the country, according to sources with the city's Public Security Bureau.

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