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Hukou system changes help rural residents
Last Updated: 2013-12-30 09:36 | Xinhua
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After 15 years in the booming province of Guangdong, migrant worker Liu Yong finally decided to settle in Longshe Township near his hometown in Chongqing Municipality.

Liu bought a new house in the town in 2010 and his family changed from "agricultural household" status to "non-agricultural." Despite that he still seeks work in coastal regions.

China's hukou or household registration system is tied to one's place of residence and was set up in 1958 to control the movement of people between urban and rural areas. The system has created an urban-rural divide.

To shrink this divide and make it easier for rural residents to settle in urban areas, gradual reform has taken place in many places, including Shanghai, Chongqing, and the provinces of Sichuan and Guangdong.

Changes to Chongqing's system in 2010 are scheduled to turn 10 million rural migrants into urban residents by 2020.

Migrant workers must now choose to stay in big cities or return to small towns. In both circumstances, they can get an urban hukou, but the cost of living varies wildly.

"Of course, I'd love to live in Guangzhou, but it is too expensive," Liu said.

The new house in Longshe cost 130,000 yuan (US$21,500), while Guangzhou's average housing price exceeded 10,000 yuan per square meter in 2010.

An urbanization conference in mid-December promised to fully remove hukou restrictions in towns and small cities, gradually ease restrictions in medium cities, and set reasonable conditions for settling in big cities.

Wang Xiaoguang of the Chinese Academy of Governance believes the move shows the government is providing help for migrant workers to gradually adapt to urban life and gain urban status.

So far, around 70 percent of the 4 million rural migrants in Chongqing who have obtained an urban hukou have shunned the metropolis and stayed in small towns or counties.

Tan Aiping, a farmer from Baiguo Village in Chongqing, chose to transfer his rural hukou to the nearby township.

"Living in a small town is very convenient. Since my land is very close to town, I can go to work on the farm at any time," Tan said. "But it would be costly if we moved to the county seat."

Zhao Xiaode, an economics professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said living costs and housing prices are the main factors rural people consider when they settle in neighboring small towns.

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