China to accelerate 'hukou' system reform: document

As part of its urbanization push, China will accelerate the reform of its "hukou" system, or household registration system, to help farmers become urban residents, the Communist Party of China (CPC) said Friday in a landmark policy document.[special report]

The decision on major issues concerning comprehensively deepening reforms was approved by the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, a four-day key meeting that ended on Tuesday.

The country will relax overall control over farmers settling in towns and small cities, and relax restrictions on settling in medium-sized cities in an orderly manner, the document showed.

China should set reasonable requirements for rural residents to obtain hukou in large cities, and strictly control the size of population in megacities.

The document also said effort should be made to make basic urban public services available for all permanent residents in cities and include all rural residents into the affordable housing system and the social security network.

The government pledges to push for "human-centered" urbanization and allow local authorities to expand financing channels for urban development through issuing bonds or other means.

Household registration reform is part of the improvement to the mechanisms for healthy urbanization, as China builds a new type of urbanization that puts people at the center.