(Ecns.cn) -- With increased centrally planned urbanization, more and more Chinese farmers have to leave their land and move into cities to become new urban residents. Different from migrant workers, they have a hukou, or permanent residence permit, but they lose their farmland and face an unfamiliar way of life.
Lack of social security
Hu Xinyun was a doctor in a small town called Meilong in Anhui Province. She opened a joint clinic with some other doctors, which allowed her to live a prosperous life. At that time, Hu was confident about their future.
However, the rapid pace of planned urbanization changed everything for her and her fellow townsmen. One year ago, Meilong Town was to be transformed into a new industrial city, which meant that all houses would be demolished under the project.
According to the compensation and resettlement agreement, Hu's family would only get about 180,000 yuan ($27,828). But buying two new apartments cost her 70,000 yuan ($10,822) and purchasing pension insurance cost over 10,000 yuan ($1,546). The remaining 100,000 yuan ($15,460) was the last wealth of the whole family.
Like Hu, other townsmen were worried about their future, because the pension insurance would only guarantee their later years, not their current living costs. The sudden urbanization caused them anxiety, even though they were able to obtain an urban status.
High cost, but low compensation
The 55-year-old Wang Qinguo was a farmer in Zhoudian Village of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province. In 2004, his family moved to the Nanhu Community of Wuhan and became new urban citizens.
However, Wang had mixed feelings about this. When he was in the village, everyone knew that Wang was a master hand in aquaculture and the farmhouse business, with an estimated annual income of up to 200,000 yuan ($30,920). After the land requisition, his family was compensated with three apartments and a sum of money of about 170,000 yuan ($26,282).
Wang was very happy at first, because the whole family became urban residents. Later, Wang found that the cost of living in Wuhan was quite high. Their monthly expenditures were roughly about 7,000 yuan ($1,082).
"I thought that I would enjoy my happy life in the city, since there was no need for me to do farm work anymore. But our income from the government cannot meet all of our expenditures," said Wang. "We are now living off of our savings."
Sense of identity lost
From rural to urban, many of the newly urbanized have lost their previous identity. Though they are now also urban citizens, they are not recognized by the other residents living in the city like they were back in their hometowns.
Zhang Guixiang is a new urban resident of Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province. Several years ago, her family was relocated to the outskirts of the city.
Zhang said she still feels that she is a farmer at heart and that she is more used to her previous mode of communication in the village. She mostly only talks with acquaintances that she has known for a long time, since they all come from the same village. It is difficult for her to mingle with other residents of the city.
"We feel it difficult to live like other urban citizens, so we are like a group of weird people. I don't think of myself as an urban citizen, but I am not a farmer either," said Zhang with strong emotions.
The outdated system impeded the smooth transition of their roles
Many junior cadres, as well as some experts, held that the current system and mechanism have constrained the smooth transition of their roles from farmer to new urban residents, and that the imperfect social security system is a key factor.
New urban residents should be able to enjoy the benefits of the health care and retirement system, but in reality, they do not get the same social welfare as urban residents.
Take Ma'anshan in Anhui Province for example. New urban residents only get a monthly pension of 215 yuan ($33.24) after retirement, but other retired urban workers can get more than 1,000 yuan ($154.6) every month.
However, the new urban residents are facing the same market crisis as the residents. Whenever the price of commodities soars, they will not be able to afford their lives with such a small amount of money.
In addition, new urban residents do not enjoy the same benefits of both education and employment, because they usually live in communities of relocation projects, where the nearby facilities are only at a starting phase. They are living under an unbalanced policy that favors other citizens.
