Smaller chance for big city hukou

It will be harder to get a hukou (household registration) in one of China's megacities in the future than for smaller ones, a senior government official said Wednesday.

"It won't be hopeless to get a hukou for a megacity, but it will be less promising than getting one for a small or mid-size city," Huang Ming, vice-minister of public security, said at a press conference in Beijing.

The draft on China's household registration reform, which targets helping 100 million migrant workers and other permanent urban residents get a city hukou by 2020, is being revised and will be submitted to the State Council for approval soon, Huang said, the China News Service reported.

This objective is "realistic and feasible," Huang added. However, it would be more realistic for people to get a hukou for a smaller city, while it will require a positive mind and enough patience to acquire one in a city like Beijing.

The growing number of migrants has put too much pressure on resources and environment in cities with populations over 5 million, Huang said.

From 2000 to 2012, the floating population increased by 5.17 million in Beijing, with a yearly growth of 430,000, according to Huang. Cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen also face a yearly growth of more than 400,000 floating population, which refers to workers who are not permanent residents. Some residents of megacities have talked of the frustration of being unable to get a hukou, and thus fully integrate into city life.

Cheng Si is an IT worker from Fujian province who has lived in Beijing for four years.

"I tried very hard to get a Beijing hukou after graduation, and it was the only objective for me to choose jobs," Cheng told the Global Times on Wednesday, adding that he is well aware of the importance of hukou to build his life in Beijing.

Cheng chose to remain in the capital despite failing to obtain the all-important hukou, and he is unable to buy a home as he does not yet fulfill all the criteria as a non-resident.

"I can afford to live here and I want to, but there will be more problems for me without a hukou, especially when I marry and have children," he said. Megacities like Beijing have the best resources in terms of social service, medical care and education, which attracts the largest number of migrants, said Guan Xinping, an expert on social policy at Tianjin-based Nankai University.

While the benefits attached to a hukou have become fewer in many places, Guan said, in some big cities like Beijing, such benefits are still crucial.

"If resources aren't reallocated to other regions, it won't help control the population in the long term," said Guan, even though hukou restrictions may make some people leave.

"The restrictions hurt people's rights and interests," said Wang Chunguang, a sociologist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, adding that hukou reform won't benefit many without lifting population controls in megacities.

People's migration should be driven by the market economy and resource allocation instead of hukou control, Wang added.