Annotation :::: The following are suggestions on further promoting reforms of the household registration system. This is aimed at achieving better implementation of the 18th National People’s Congress of China’s request to help migrant workers who have stable jobs and houses in cities to become local urban citizens, and gradually allow all permanent residents, whether they are urban citizens or not, to enjoy the basic public services in cities and townships. The guiding ideology of reform is to reasonably direct the orderly transfer of agrarian populations to cities and townships, and promote their becoming urban citizens. The basic principle of the reform is to give exclusive priority to solving the problems of migrant workers who already live and work in cities and townships, and facilitating the work of increasing the number of newcomers in cities and townships. The primary objectives of the reform involve readjusting migration policy, consolidating the urban and rural household registration system, and initiating full efforts to transition 100 million of the agrarian population and other permanent residents in cities and townships to become urban citizens. This will allow them to enjoy basic public services such as compulsory education, employment-related services, elderly care, general healthcare, and housing security by 2020. Those coming from rural agricultural areas who rent or buy houses and have stable jobs in townships and small-sized cities are qualified to apply for local urban citizenship. Permanent residents who are involved in the social security system of a medium-sized city for one year are also qualified to apply for the local urban citizenship, and those involved in the social security system of a large-sized city for several years (generally less than five years) are qualified to apply as well. Control measures are necessary based on the population scale of a specially large city (generally with a population of over five million people), and the priority must be given addressing the issue of citizenship among those in need who are talented, such as university students, skilled workers, and returned personnel. A population control system must be developed, and the legal rights and interests of the agrarian population in urban areas and other kinds of permanent urban populations must be guaranteed. Consideration should be given to the possibility that migrant workers may transfer their original medical insurance and endowment insurance to cities and townships and also may get involved in the local urban housing security system. All concerned government departments must genuinely put into practice the above-mentioned migration policies and household registration regulations.
