Recently the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, Checking Unhealthy Tendencies Office of the State Council and the State Population and Family Planning Commission jointly released the Circular on Further Cleaning Up and Abolishing Discriminatory Provisions and Unreasonable Charges Against Farmers Pursuing Cross-regional and Urban Employment.

The Circular requires that all charging items for which administrative licensing and non-administrative licensing have been explicitly abolished be abolished; all charging items for which laws and administrative regulations have not prescribed for administrative licensing and non-administrative licensing be abolished; other administrative and institutional charges against farmers pursuing cross-regional and urban employment, which have not been approved by the State Council, provincial people's governments, people's governments of autonomous regions, municipal governments directly under the State Council and the competent financial and pricing departments under them, be abolished; charging standards of allowable charges be re-checked and re-ratified according to the principle of doing best to alleviate farmers' burdens. The Circular stresses that relevant institutions, which provide intermediary services such as employment introduction to farmers pursuing cross-regional and urban employment, must stick to the principle of voluntary participation and stay away from forced service and forced charges.

By People's Daily Online