The press conference on the State Council’s guideline on reform of China's household registration system

(en.nhfpc.gov.cn)

Updated: 2014-08-24

Wang Pei’an: As for family planning services, according to the Management Ordinance of Technical Service of Family Planning, all the married people of reproductive age, including the floating population, have access to basic technical services of family planning, which include technical guidance, consultation and clinic services related to family planning. Also, the floating population can get free contraceptives, which is provided by the special fund of the central government.

Next, in association with the household registration reform, we will continue to adjust and perfect the layout of community health service institutions in accordance with the population size of a certain region to meet the health needs of all local residents, including the transferred agricultural population and other inhabitants. Thank you. 2014-07-30 11:10:43

Shenzhen TV: I have questions for Vice-Minister Huang. I noticed that you have mentioned the big goal of this hukou reform was to help 100 million people get urban hukou, and I’d like to know whether the implementation process is gradient based. Is there any timetable for the reform? Also, I noticed that the guideline made specific mention of controlling mega-city population size; does it literally mean that in the future it will be more difficult to get hukou in mega-cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen? 2014-07-30 11:10:57

Huang Ming: The timetable is that we strive to help the 100 million agricultural transferred population and other inhabitants get urban hukou by the year 2020. This goal should be an estimation of the whole nation, instead of a distribution goal. The number is an approximate quantity, which might either be larger or smaller than the actual result that we shall show our respect for. Meanwhile, my point is that the goal is a practical one. The number of the agricultural population that has already moved to urban areas is as high as 200 million, with streams of newcomers, despite the capacity growth of cities amid urbanization. After serious evaluation and estimation, the Ministry of Public Security and the National Bureau of Statistics believe that this goal is both practical and assured. This is about the first question. 2014-07-30 11:16:24

Huang Ming: The second question is whether the hukou policy is tightened. In general, we should strictly control the population size. Yet at the same time, the policy should be made according to the practical situation of each city. The individual’s qualification shall be measured by the way they serve the city’s purpose. As a result, the hukou transfer varies with each city and each individual. On the whole, all local governments should establish a point system and transparent hukou transfer channel according to the central authority’s requirements. This is a definite requirement, which guides local governments in setting their own policies in accordance with specific conditions. Thank you. 2014-07-30 11:18:56

China Radio International: To my knowledge, despite that many small and medium-sized cities have opened their hukou transfer policy; few rural people have entered the cities. What measures will be adopted to increase the competence of small and medium-sized cities to cope with the situation? 2014-07-30 11:20:49

Li Pumin: To increase the competence of small and medium-sized cities is not only a significant aspect of new urbanization, but also important for household registration reform. That is because small and medium-sized cities are primary in-flow areas of migrant workers. Statistics shows that more than 50 percent of migrant workers are working in county-level and prefecture-level cities. Therefore, to enhance the attraction of small and medium-sized cities is a major task of both developing new urbanization and expediting migrant worker hukou transfer. Our initiatives in the next step include the following aspects.

The first is to improve transportation conditions in these cities. As a basic condition, only if the transportation were improved will industry development and population accumulation be possible. The competence of small and medium-sized cities will thus be strengthened. According to the country’s new urbanization plan, cities with 200,000 people should be connected to railway networks, and those with 500,000 people or above should be connected to high-speed railway networks by 2020. National roads will reach every county town, and high-speed express will link cities with 200,000 people or above. That is about the first measure.

The second measure is to consolidate the industrial basis in small and medium-sized cities. We should encourage and guide industrial projects, and develop characteristic industries in the cities with larger resources, environmental capacity and higher development potential. Only with industrial development will employment be expanded in these small and medium-sized cities, and will they become more competent. 2014-07-30 11:21:12