Tweaks to Guangzhou family planning rules of little effect: experts

Amendments to family planning regulations in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, will have little effect, as the changes are minor, experts told the Global Times Tuesday.

Guangzhou's family planning bureau revealed at a press conference Monday that it will tighten up rules regarding whether non-local residents, who do not have a Guangzhou hukou (household registration), can apply for a hukou for the child.

In the past, some non-locals, such as postgraduates of overseas universities under 40 who work in Guangzhou could apply for a hukou, but if they violate the family planning policy now, they will not be eligible, the Family Planning Bureau of Guangzhou said Monday at a press conference.

But Guangzhou-registered parents can have an extra child if they pay 200,000-300,000 yuan ($32,580-48,870) in "social maintenance," according to the regulation.

The rule, to be implemented on August 1, says civile servants or staff of State-owned companies who violate the rules should be fired.   

The regulation aims to protect the rights and benefits of people who obey the family planning policy, Xu Xianyu, head of the family planning bureau said Monday in Guangzhou, adding it will prevent people from evading the social maintenance fee. 

However, residents have given mixed feedback to the amendment and to the regulation.

Li Bo, 34, a college teacher with  a Guangzhou hukou, who has a son, said he welcomes the regulation. "The resources in Guangzhou are very limited as the city's population is over 10 million. With more non-local hukou holders coming here, local residents will lose out in terms of public services. That's unfair," Li said.

Others have complained online that the regulation is discriminatory.

"Citizens should have rights of free migration in their own country. But the regulation doesn't treat us as human beings," one Web user from Zhuhai in Guangdong posted. 

Liang Zhongtang, a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the regulation makes no sense as it just has some tiny changes compared with the previous regulation.

Wang Sixin, a law professor with the Communication University of China, agreed that the new rules would affect little change.

"Implementing the regulation doesn't necessarily mean that the population in Guangzhou will become less and public services will improve. The tight public resources in a city are not caused by non-locals with more children but by unreasonable resource distribution," Wang noted.