Equal services for migrants to push urbanization drive
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
February 25, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA has pledged to provide equal access to public services for people living in urban areas without proper residential permits.
Local governments are ordered to streamline the controversial residency permit system to ensure that the decades-old hukou, as it's known in China, will minimize inconveniences to migrant workers.
Policies and measures on essential public services, including employment assistance, compulsory education and occupational training, will not be based on whether one has a permanent residence permit or not, according to a State Council circular posted online late Thursday.
It's the latest effort by the central government to further push the urbanization drive.
In cities at county-level or below, people who have stable jobs and residences may apply for permanent residence permits, along with their spouses, unmarried children, and parents, the circular said.
In medium-size cities, people who have stable jobs for three years, stable residences, and have paid social security insurance for at least one year can also apply for permits to live in the city permanently, the circular said.
That means many of China's millions of migrant workers may be formally accepted as urban residents, giving them more access to public services.
Ushered in some 30 years ago, China's reform and opening-up drive established a pattern of labor flowing from rural to urban areas, and the country now has more than 200 million rural migrants working in cities.
The reforms must not force rural residents to give up claims to land by simply reclassifying their status to urban - a land-grab tactic that is a typical complaint heard from farmers and a key source of social unrest across the country.
"Some places just ignored state policies to harm people's basic interests, and if these problems can't be solved properly, it would seriously affect the legal process of urbanization, undermine economic development, and hurt social harmony," the circular said.
It added that local policies must be more friendly toward migrants.
Meanwhile, the circular said China will continue efforts to control the population of major cities, including those directly under jurisdiction of the central government, many of which are already overpopulated based on existing facilities and services.
According to the Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission, Shanghai had 22.21 million residents at the end of 2010 - 14.12 million with residency and 8.29 million migrants who lived in the city for more than six months, as well as about 200,000 registered residents who lived elsewhere in the country.
China passed a milestone last year when city dwellers topped 50 percent of the population for the first time, a signal that reform is becoming more urgent as the government wants to unlock the potential of urbanization and rebalance the economy towards domestic demand.
Local governments are ordered to streamline the controversial residency permit system to ensure that the decades-old hukou, as it's known in China, will minimize inconveniences to migrant workers.
Policies and measures on essential public services, including employment assistance, compulsory education and occupational training, will not be based on whether one has a permanent residence permit or not, according to a State Council circular posted online late Thursday.
It's the latest effort by the central government to further push the urbanization drive.
In cities at county-level or below, people who have stable jobs and residences may apply for permanent residence permits, along with their spouses, unmarried children, and parents, the circular said.
In medium-size cities, people who have stable jobs for three years, stable residences, and have paid social security insurance for at least one year can also apply for permits to live in the city permanently, the circular said.
That means many of China's millions of migrant workers may be formally accepted as urban residents, giving them more access to public services.
Ushered in some 30 years ago, China's reform and opening-up drive established a pattern of labor flowing from rural to urban areas, and the country now has more than 200 million rural migrants working in cities.
The reforms must not force rural residents to give up claims to land by simply reclassifying their status to urban - a land-grab tactic that is a typical complaint heard from farmers and a key source of social unrest across the country.
"Some places just ignored state policies to harm people's basic interests, and if these problems can't be solved properly, it would seriously affect the legal process of urbanization, undermine economic development, and hurt social harmony," the circular said.
It added that local policies must be more friendly toward migrants.
Meanwhile, the circular said China will continue efforts to control the population of major cities, including those directly under jurisdiction of the central government, many of which are already overpopulated based on existing facilities and services.
According to the Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission, Shanghai had 22.21 million residents at the end of 2010 - 14.12 million with residency and 8.29 million migrants who lived in the city for more than six months, as well as about 200,000 registered residents who lived elsewhere in the country.
China passed a milestone last year when city dwellers topped 50 percent of the population for the first time, a signal that reform is becoming more urgent as the government wants to unlock the potential of urbanization and rebalance the economy towards domestic demand.
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