Permits, Points, and Permanent Household Registration: Recalibrating Hukou Policy under “Top-Level Design”

Abstract

China’s New-type Urbanisation Plan heralded a new phase of reform of the household registration ( hukou) system and initiated a nation-wide reconfiguration of hukou policy in Chinese cities. This study reveals that the former localisation of hukou policymaking has been brought to greater uniformity under the current central guidelines. The liberalisation of hukou conversion has been expanded to many large cities that previously employed selective migrant integration policies. Mega-cities have recalibrated the selection criteria for new citizens, elevating the importance of settlement duration and moderating the importance of educational and professional qualifications. Case studies in Guangdong further reveal the dynamic interactions among different levels of government in the course of reform. Local policy experimentations set important precedents for central policymaking, and the central guidelines are enforcing new adjustments in local implementation. The provincial government plays a prominent role in coordinating top-down directives and local conditions.

China’s Rural–Urban Transformation: New Forms of Inclusion and Exclusion

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Hukou type, hukou place and labour market vulnerability in Chinese megacities: The case of Beijing in the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Undeniably, the Chinese state has been increasingly concerned about the impact of the hukou place on people’s lives and has initiated a new phase of hukou reforms to address it. Since 2014, a growing number of cities have been required to offer local hukou to all residents and encouraged to base access to hukou -related benefits on the length of residence rather than the hukou place (Wang, 2020; Zhang, 2018). However, megacities have been treated differently and granted great discretion, likely due to their substantial number of non-local hukou holders and attractive hukou -related benefits.…”

China's Urban Poor – Comparing Twice Poverty between Residents and Migrants in 2013 and 2018

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