New drafts meant to limit population: analysts
Beijing on Thursday released two draft regulations that use a points system to allow people who have worked and lived in Beijing for years to obtain a permanent residential permit, a long-coveted status that will ensure cheaper education and better access to expensive resources.
If the new rules are approved, the scheme will theoretically give everyone who has lived in Beijing long enough an equal chance to get the much desired hukou, or household registration.
This would put an end to the existing system, in which mainly employees of government agencies or State-owned enterprises can apply according to an annual quota.
However, analysts said that the drafts, released three days after the city unveiled its 13th Five-Year Plan (2015-20) that vows to limit the population to under 23 million, are actually designed to ensure population control and "optimize" population structure at a time when the capital city is struggling with congestion and shortages of water and other resources.
The draft, released by the Beijing government on its official website, states that people from outside Beijing can apply for a permanent hukou if they are under 45, have made social security contributions for at least seven years, meet family planning policy regulations and have no criminal record in Beijing.
The drafts said that this is an effort to bring convenience to residents in Beijing who come from outside the city, protect their interests, promote the "harmonious development" of population, resources, environment, economy and society.
More points for skilled
The points-based residency permit system stipulates applicants must have a legal, stable job, a fixed abode, education, and some other "preferential" factors such as a sound credit record and professional skills.
Applicants who have a bachelor's degree will get 15 points, while a master's degree gets 27 points and a PhD 39 points, according to the drafts.
Those working in hi-tech enterprises get one point each year and those who get awards in contests in technological and cultural fields or business plan competitions will also get up to nine points.
The total number of points needed to qualify for a permanent Beijing residency has not been disclosed. The government will adjust the points according to the population control situation each year, according to the drafts.
Beijing released its 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) on Monday, which includes plans to limit its population to 23 million, decreasing the number of people living in the six main districts by 15 percent compared to 2014.
"Population explosion is the most prominent problem hindering Beijing's development … One of the major reasons for control is that the city is facing a severe water shortage," Guo Jinlong, Party secretary of Beijing, said during a plenary session of the 11th Communist Party of China Beijing Committee in November.
Mao Shoulong, a professor of public administration at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Thursday that the residential permit is a measure to limit more people moving to Beijing, as people will need one to access social welfare.
People who do not have a local hukou can only buy a property or car if they first live there for at least five years. Schools are also open first to local people's children, while migrant people's children have to pay higher fees. High school students from other cities have to go back to their home towns to take the national college entrance exams, and need much higher scores to attend the best universities in Beijing.
Public outcry
There has been public outcry online, with many people commenting that the threshold is too high, as many of the points are difficult to obtain.
Shanghai and Guangzhou have already adopted a points-based system.
"According to the experience of Shanghai and Guangzhou, implementing the points-based system won't lead to more people hurtling into Beijing, as the standard in Beijing is even higher," said Mao.
"People have flocked to Beijing … but it's caused much pressure on the environment and traffic congestion," said Wang Zhenyu, a researcher with the China University of Political Science and Law.
Based on a survey by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics and the National Bureau of Statistics, the permanent population of Beijing as of December 2014 was 21.5 million, a number which already exceeds the 2020 target population of 18 million set in 2005.
"Aside from reforms to the current household system, Beijing needs to work with other regions to reallocate its resource to decentralize the overpopulation," Gong Weibin, director of the Research Center of Social Governance at the Chinese Academy of Governance, told the Global Times.
Tongzhou district in east Beijing is set to become the capital's sub-administrative center under a national strategy to coordinate the development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province.
Beijing will accelerate the shift of its non-capital functions to Tongzhou and nearby places.
Li Shixiang, deputy mayor of Beijing, said Thursday that the final planned population of Tongzhou will be limited to no more than 2 million and it will strictly control exploitation of real estate.
"The development of the integration in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei could also serve as an effective way to disperse population. With more universities, hospitals and industrial enterprises moving from Beijing to nearby regions, some people will leave Beijing," Gong said.
