Why is it so important?, Hangzhou cancels restrictions on points for household registration and transfers | population | restrictions

Zhejiang is taking another step towards relaxing household registration restrictions.

On July 31, the General Office of the People's Government of Zhejiang Province issued the Notice on Promoting the Reform of the registered residence System with High Quality. Among them, it is clear that the urban area of Hangzhou will lift the restrictions on household registration quotas, streamline the points program, and ensure that the scores of years of residence and years of social insurance payment account for the main proportion of points. Once this policy was released, it attracted widespread public attention.

According to the policy interpretation of the Notice, its purpose is to deploy high-quality efforts to promote the reform of the registered residence system, further promote the rational, smooth and orderly flow of labor factors, and accelerate the new urbanization with people at the core.

"Zhejiang is a large province of private economy, which has attracted a large number of migrant workers. Since the beginning of this century, Zhejiang has also been a large province of floating population in China. The introduction of this policy will help promote the transformation of migrant population into local registered residence, and 'change the stock into increment'." Mi Hong, director of the Population Big Data and Policy Simulation Research Base of the School of Public Management of Zhejiang University, said in an interview with Chao News reporters.

What is the significance of canceling the limit on points for household registration?

"This policy is very significant in both practical and guiding aspects," Li Yang, deputy researcher at the Zhejiang Provincial Development Planning Research Institute, told Chao News reporters.

Upon closer inspection, the Notice mainly liberalizes and relaxes three types of household registration: firstly, comprehensively relaxes the restrictions on residential registration conditions, explicitly cancels the quota for point based household registration in the urban area of Hangzhou, and shortens the length of residence in other areas; The second is for functional departments at or above the county level to determine the scope of talents that meet local needs, providing more options for talents to settle down; The third is to relax the conditions for joining and settling down, and expand the scope of relatives to join. One of the most concerning aspects among the public is the clear proposal to lift the quota limit for household registration in the urban area of Hangzhou.

At present, the common ways of settling down in Hangzhou include talent introduction, employment, and point based settlement. The so-called point based household registration is implemented by setting a score line to control the total amount, so the annual household registration score line may fluctuate. But this policy clearly "cancels the limit on the number of points for household registration in the urban area of Hangzhou", that is, as long as it meets the basic application conditions for household registration with points on the residence permit after verification, that is, those who score 100 points or more can settle in Hangzhou, which also makes it easier for migrant populations to settle in Hangzhou.

According to the adjusted points settlement method in Hangzhou, taking an outsider under the age of 40 with a high school education as an example, as long as he stays in Hangzhou for 4 years and pays social security for 4 years, his points can reach 100 points. If he participates in activities such as voluntary blood donation and community volunteer work, he can also earn additional points, and the time limit can be further shortened.

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"The data from the previous seventh population census also showed that the education level of the population from outside Zhejiang Province is mainly in junior high school, with a total proportion of nearly 80% of the population below junior high school, accounting for the absolute majority. In Hangzhou, this group of people may have been working here for many years, and the demand for accumulated household registration is the most urgent." Mi Hong believes that after the lifting of the quota for accumulated household registration in the urban area of Hangzhou, more than a million people may benefit.

On July 22nd, the "Implementation Plan for Promoting the Implementation of the Basic Public Service System in Permanent Residences and Orderly Promoting the Citizenization of Agricultural Transfer Population in Zhejiang Province" was officially implemented. It is also mentioned that in the urban area of Hangzhou, the annual quota for household registration will be gradually lifted. From gradual cancellation to this clear cancellation, it means that Hangzhou is constantly moving forward in relaxing household registration restrictions.

In Li Yang's view, the cancellation of the limit on points for household registration this time is not a "sudden idea", but in fact, it is in line with the policies that have been introduced.

In March 2019, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Key Tasks for the Construction of New Urbanization in 2019", which mentioned that "super large cities should adjust and improve the policy of point based household registration.". On July 12, 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "14th Five Year Plan for the Implementation of New Urbanization", which also proposed to fully open up and relax the household registration restrictions except for a few super large cities. Each city should adapt to local conditions to promote the stable employment and living of agricultural migrant workers in urban areas to settle in cities with their families, and enjoy the same rights and obligations as urban residents. For example, encouraging mega cities with a permanent population of over 5 million in urban areas to lift the annual quota for household registration.

Hangzhou, as the only city among the 11 prefecture level cities in Zhejiang Province with a permanent population of nearly 10 million and an inflow of about one-third of the population from other provinces, the lifting of the quota for point based household registration is also necessary due to time constraints.

Not only in terms of point based household registration, but also in terms of educational talent registration, in April this year, Hangzhou once again relaxed the threshold for direct registration to associate degree holders. That is to say, graduates with a college degree only need to sign a labor contract with their employer and pay social security to directly settle in the urban area of Hangzhou. If you are a master's student under the age of 45 in a regular university, you can also settle down first and then find employment.

In Li Yang's view, the unified regulations at the provincial level in Zhejiang this time are a "strong shot" to improve the household registration policies in various cities in Zhejiang Province, and also provide a "reassuring pill" for the migrant population who intend to work hard, start businesses, and settle down in Zhejiang.

Why is Zhejiang in the forefront of the reform of the registered residence system?

In the vast historical development, the establishment and reform of the registered residence system, as the basis of urban development, has always affected China's population change.

For a long time, China's registered residence system has been closely linked to the interests of registered residence. The urban-rural dual structural barriers and the related unequal distribution of benefits and achievements have become an important factor impeding the development of urbanization. Promoting the continuous deepening reform of the registered residence system has also become an urgent problem for China's economic and social development in the new era.

On June 1 of this year, the Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department released the "New Measures for registered residence Registration Management of Public Security Organs in Heilongjiang Province" on its official website, which adjusted the policies related to the settlement of the province. All urban areas in the province have completely lifted the restrictions on settlement, including Harbin, the provincial capital. Prior to Heilongjiang, in January 2021, Jiangxi Province also announced the comprehensive relaxation of urban household registration conditions throughout the province and the complete lifting of urban household registration restrictions.

"Although Zhejiang is not the first province to relax the restrictions on settlement, it is definitely in the first rank." Li Yang told reporters that Zhejiang has never stopped on the path of exploring registered residence reform.

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Xiang Chao, a professional who studies registered residence system reform, combed the history of registered residence system reform in Zhejiang over the years——

In 2015, the Implementation Opinions on Further Promoting the Reform of the registered residence System issued by the People's Government of Zhejiang Province proposed that the restrictions on settlement in counties should be fully liberalized, the restrictions on settlement in large and medium-sized cities should be liberalized in an orderly manner, and the distinction between agricultural and non-agricultural hukou nature and the resulting blue print hukou and other hukou types should be canceled, and they should be registered as resident hukou.

The Notice of the General Office of the People's Government of Zhejiang Province on Adjusting and Improving the Household Registration Migration Policy, released in 2017, proposes to implement a differentiated and orderly household registration policy based on the city, and further relax the talent household registration policy.

In the same year, the Work Plan of Zhejiang Province on Promoting the Settlement of Non registered residence Population in Cities mentioned that it is necessary to improve the enthusiasm of agricultural transfer population and further expand the channels for non registered residence population to settle in cities.

In 2019, the Notice of the General Office of the People's Government of Zhejiang Province on Accelerating the Reform of the registered residence System in Zhejiang Province was issued to accelerate the citizenization and new urbanization of Zhejiang's agricultural transfer population.

In July 2023, the "Implementation Plan for Promoting the Implementation of the Basic Public Service System in Permanent Residences and Orderly Promoting the Citizenization of Agricultural Transfer Population in Zhejiang Province" further clarified that the province will completely abolish the policy of household registration restrictions, ensuring the standardization of urban household registration for agricultural transfer populations from other regions and local areas.

From the above documents, it is not difficult to see that, from fully liberalizing the restrictions on the settlement of counties to fully canceling the restrictions on the settlement of the whole province, from canceling the distinction between the nature of agricultural and non-agricultural household registration to continuously promoting the citizenization of the agricultural transfer population, Zhejiang has been making small strides in the reform of the registered residence system in recent years.

Su Jian, director of the National Economic Research Center at Peking University, told Chao News that as a major province of private economy, Zhejiang's active economy provides a vast number of employment opportunities. Relaxing household registration restrictions will lead to a large influx of labor force flowing to Zhejiang. At the same time, a sound social security and public service system also provides more reasons for those who come here to stay.

Since the beginning of this year, Zhejiang has made the promotion of the "Seven Excellent Enjoyments" project for public services one of the "Ten Major Projects" of the provincial government. This major project aims to promote more inclusive, equal, accessible, and high-quality sharing of public services, achieving good education for young children, excellent education for learning, income for labor, good doctors for diseases, health for the elderly, livable housing, and public assistance for the weak

In addition, as early as in the process of formulating the construction policy of the Demonstration Area of Common Prosperity, Zhejiang has begun to formulate relevant policies for non registered residence permanent residents to enjoy basic public services in their actual residence. In fact, this is an important path to achieve social wealth sharing through the equalization of basic public services by breaking the registered residence restrictions.

"Zhejiang's opening up and easing restrictions on settlement will also help to build a unified national market. Because the purpose of a unified national market is to realize the free flow of goods and resources, and labor resources are the most important resource among them. The registered residence management system has affected the free flow of labor to a certain extent, which will reduce the efficiency of labor allocation. Relaxing restrictions on settlement will improve the efficiency of economic operation and development level." Su Jian said.

On July 8, Cai Fang, the former vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, also proposed in his speech at the "China Wealth Forum" that the registered residence system can stimulate consumption immediately and truly. Cai Fang said that the reform of the registered residence system can release the 180 million migrant workers who have already entered the city, and roughly calculated that the total amount is about trillion.

"As a demonstration zone for common prosperity, Zhejiang has always had strong competitiveness in talent attraction. The net inflow of 370000 people in Zhejiang in 2022 is a good example. Zhejiang has put a lot of effort into public services, but in order to attract and retain people better, it can continue to increase the supply of infrastructure and public goods, especially to solve rigid problems such as affordable housing for agricultural migrant workers and children's education, to ensure that they have a fundamental improvement in housing and education after settling in the city." Mi Hong said.