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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Dalian calls an end to temporary residences
Source: Xinhua |
December 28, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE northeastern city of Dalian in Liaoning Province issued residential cards to 200 migrant workers on Friday, as the city officially abolished the controversial temporary residence permits.
Holding the card, 48-year-old Li Yan'an said it was the end of a 16-year wait.
"I felt discriminated when I was given a temporary residence permit," said the migrant worker from a village in Liaoning Province, who came to Dalian some 20 years ago.
The city began to issue temporary residence permits to migrants, usually farmers, in 1993, and each permit cost 35 yuan (US$5). The new residential cards are free.
"The residential card makes me feel that I am gradually accepted by the city," Li said.
As "temporary residents," the migrant farmer workers had to pay an additional 2,000-3,000 yuan a year to have their children admitted by primary and middle schools in the city.
The new card means not only the exemption of extra education fees for children of migrant workers, but also equal rights as local citizens in employment, vocational training, application for driving licenses and vehicle registration for migrant farmers like Li.
Milestone event
The card also brings more benefits on medical care, old-age pension and others.
"It is a milestone event for the city's nearly 1 million migrant workers," said Zhou Zhou, deputy secretary general of the Dalian government.
The number of permanent residents in the city is 5.83 million.
With rapid economic development and urbanization, Chinese farmers swarmed into cities to work. China currently has about 130 million farmers working in cities.
"The migrant workers made great contributions to the city's development," said Ning Min, deputy head of the Public Security Bureau of Dalian City. "But they also brought problems in social security, family planning and job-hunting."
The temporary residence permit system, since it came into effect in the 1980s, limited rights of migrant workers in employment, education and medical care.
Public outcry to abolish the system reached a peak in 2003, when Sun Zhigang, a 27-year-old college graduate working in Guangzhou, was put into custody for not carrying his temporary residence permit and beaten to death.
Many other migrant workers had similar bitter experiences of being questioned, taken into custody and fined.
Many Chinese cities are or are considering abolishing temporary permits.
Holding the card, 48-year-old Li Yan'an said it was the end of a 16-year wait.
"I felt discriminated when I was given a temporary residence permit," said the migrant worker from a village in Liaoning Province, who came to Dalian some 20 years ago.
The city began to issue temporary residence permits to migrants, usually farmers, in 1993, and each permit cost 35 yuan (US$5). The new residential cards are free.
"The residential card makes me feel that I am gradually accepted by the city," Li said.
As "temporary residents," the migrant farmer workers had to pay an additional 2,000-3,000 yuan a year to have their children admitted by primary and middle schools in the city.
The new card means not only the exemption of extra education fees for children of migrant workers, but also equal rights as local citizens in employment, vocational training, application for driving licenses and vehicle registration for migrant farmers like Li.
Milestone event
The card also brings more benefits on medical care, old-age pension and others.
"It is a milestone event for the city's nearly 1 million migrant workers," said Zhou Zhou, deputy secretary general of the Dalian government.
The number of permanent residents in the city is 5.83 million.
With rapid economic development and urbanization, Chinese farmers swarmed into cities to work. China currently has about 130 million farmers working in cities.
"The migrant workers made great contributions to the city's development," said Ning Min, deputy head of the Public Security Bureau of Dalian City. "But they also brought problems in social security, family planning and job-hunting."
The temporary residence permit system, since it came into effect in the 1980s, limited rights of migrant workers in employment, education and medical care.
Public outcry to abolish the system reached a peak in 2003, when Sun Zhigang, a 27-year-old college graduate working in Guangzhou, was put into custody for not carrying his temporary residence permit and beaten to death.
Many other migrant workers had similar bitter experiences of being questioned, taken into custody and fined.
Many Chinese cities are or are considering abolishing temporary permits.
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