Workers benefit from household registration reform(2)

Premier Li Keqiangstressed at this year's annual sessions of the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in March that China will put people first when it comes to urbanization.

According to a plan introduced by the State Council in May in a bid to invigorate the Chinese economy, a new city residential permit system will eventually replace the half-century-old household registration system, and public services and the social welfare system should be improved.

Further reform is called for to assist and help accelerate the process of urbanization.

China's urbanization rate reached 52.57 percent by the end of 2012 but about 200 million new urbanites still do not have urban permanent resident permits, according to the 2012 City Development Report of China released in July.

"The majority of migrant workers and farmers-turned-city dwellers have no city hukou and find it hard to blend into urban life," Xu Qiang said.

"They dare not to buy things in cities nor do they give up their farmland in rural areas since they are haunted by the feeling that they won't be accepted by the city and will have to retreat to rural life again one day," Xu Qiang said.

This has a knock-on effect, as it is difficult to promote consumption. Meanwhile, China's urbanization quality and the process of agricultural modernization will also be affected, according to Xu Qiang.

It has been argued that it will not be easy to implement household reform across China as it demands strong financial support from local governments.

China has more than 200 million migrant workers working in cities. If they enjoyed the same welfare as urban citizens, local governments would have to shoulder more pressures to ensure basic social services such as affordable housing, education and medical services.

Li Tie, director of the China Center for Urban Development under the National Development and Reform Commission, suggested the country should not pin all its hopes on local governments. Governments, companies and individuals should all contribute to household registration reform.