China introduces guidelines for household registration reform

New central government guidelines on reform of China's household registration system have been unveiled. The guidelines, which mark a new step in China's urbanization drive, were introduced by China's State Council at a press conference on Wednesday morning.

The Ministry of Public Security and nine other commissions are introducing a guideline vital for the upcoming reform of China's Hukou system, or household registration system.

Approved by the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the guideline has now been released to the public.

"This is a guideline policy for household registration reform for the present and going forward. The adoption of the policy means that the reform has started to be fully implemented. It has taken over one year for the policy to be adopted. The CPC Central Committee and State Council have attached great importance to the reform," Huang Ming, vice minister of Ministry Of Public Security, said.

China unveiled its urbanization plan for the next six years in March. It's set to steer the country's urbanization towards a more human-centered and environmentally friendly path.

"This is an overall adjustment to the household registration policy in line with the plan of new type of urbanization. We will implement the policies in accordance with local conditions. This will play an important role in the improvement of this special layout and population density," Huang said.

Under the plan, China will fully remove household restrictions in towns and small cities, gradually ease restrictions in mid-sized cities, and set reasonable conditions for settling in big cities, while strictly controlling the population in megacities.