Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 26, 2002
China to Cut Limits on Population Mobility
Chinese citizens who have a fixed place of abode and a stable income will have their regular residential status registered in local police offices, a senior police official Monday said in Beijing, stressing this is the goal of the residence registration reform.
China will continue to eliminate restrictions on population mobility, announced a senior police official Monday in Beijing.
Bao Suixian, deputy director of the Public Security Bureau under the Ministry of Public Security, made the announcement at a briefing held by the ministry.
Chinese citizens who have a fixed place of abode and a stable income will have their regular residential status registered in local police offices, he said, stressing this is the goal of the residence registration reform.
To replace current regulations
The unified residential registration system will cover both urban and rural areas and will eventually replace the two different registration regulations now in operation.
At present, Chinese citizens are divided into two categories in most parts of the country in terms of residence registration, namely, "agriculture residence" and "non-agriculture residence".
In tandem with the rapid economic development and social changes, the barrier of China's existing household registration system, that restricts people's freedom to migrate and divides the country into two distinctive urban and rural worlds, is expected to be broken very soon. here
China is introducing a sweeping reform to its outdated residence system, which divides its whole population into agricultural and non-agricultural categories. here
Shandong Province in east China has recently decided to ease restrictions on the free moving of citizens, as part of an effort to reform the decades-long residence registration or "hukou" system. here