DIE ERDE 143 2012 (3) Thematic Issue: Multilocality pp. 233-247

• system – Temporary rural-urban migration –

Jijiao Zhang

The Hukou System as China’s Main Regulatory Framework for Temporary Rural-Urban Migration and its Recent Changes Das Hukou-System als Chinas wichtigstes Steuerungsinstrument der temporären Land-Stadt-Migration und seine jüngeren Wandlungen

With 1 Table

More than 50 years ago China’s government established the hukou system in order to prevent rural urban migration, requiring people to stay in the area where they were registered. Migrating to the city without being registered as ‘urban’ implied that the migrants had no access to education, food, housing, employment and a variety of other social services. In 1982, when unskilled labour was in short supply in the booming cities, a programme of gradual reform was started which eased the strict regulations. However, the level of liberalisation varied from one province to another and from one metropolis to the other, creating remarkable differences in the regulatory framework. The paper describes the history of the hukou system and its consequences as well as its reforms from the early beginnings to the present day and discusses the need for further reform.

1. Background operates like a boundary between rural area and urban area and divides the population into rural In most developing nations, economic devel- households and non-rural households (two- opment has promoted massive and uncon- tiered boundaries of belonging); individual inter- trolled migration from the countryside into ests and rights, such as education, healthcare, urban areas (Kasarda and Crenshaw 1991). housing and employment, are linked to the Rural-urban migration is a pervasive feature in household registration. Under this system, rural the developing countries. citizens have no access to social welfare in cit- ies, even though they may live and work there. In China, the hukou1 (household) registration Originally, the idea of the hukou system was to system was set up in 1958. The hukou system severely restrict rural-to-urban migration (John- 234 Jijiao Zhang DIE ERDE son 1988; Yang 1993); it formed the central household registration’ (Regulations, 1958) to mechanism to regulate population flows and, un- control the movement of people between urban til the onset of China’s reform in 1978, effectively and rural areas. Individuals were broadly cate- tied Chinese citizens to their place of residence. gorised as ‘rural (agricultural)’ or ‘urban (non- agricultural)’. Supported by employment, ra- In general, urban areas are centres of development. tioning and housing allocation instruments, Incomes tend to be higher and economic opportu- these regulations effectively constrained rural- nities greater. Driven by real or perceived differ- urban migration until the early 1980s. During entials in economic opportunities (Lee 1966; these decades, people were required to stay in Todaro 1969), the needs of families to diversify the small area where they were born (where risk in the absence of formal insurance mecha- their hukou was), and stay there until they died. nisms (Portes and Böröcz 1989) and social net- They could not move. They could travel, but work connections with others who preceded them there was no access to jobs, public services, (Massey et al. 1993) drive peasants to the cities in education, or even food in other places. search of better lives. Thus, rural-urban migration is also an important channel of social mobility. 3. Objectives of the Hukou System In the past 30 years, the huge labour force in the rural areas has made a great contribution to First of all, through the , the China’s economic growth, urbanisation and mod- system can help uphold the citizens’ civil rights and ernisation as internal rural-urban migrants. The provide basic information when the government is number of migrants has dramatically climbed drawing up national economic and social-develop- from 6.6 mill. in 1982 to 211 mill. in the year ment plans and arranging the rational distribution 2009 (National Population and Family Planning of the workforce. The household registration sys- Commission 2011). Now, China is experiencing tem is an important, even fundamental part of the the largest magnitude of internal rural-to-urban state administration. For public security depart- migration in the history of mankind. ments, such a system plays a major role in safe- guarding public security and combating crime. On the other hand, however, the two-tier hukou system has failed to take into account the real The second reason for establishing the hukou process of urbanisation in the country and has system was central control over employment. throttled the healthy development and a ration- After the introduction of the people’s communes al flow of China’s labour market. This is why in the countryside, work and income were allo- it was necessary to change the system and cated by the production team (or sometimes the adapt it to changing circumstances. These brigade) to its members, thereby effectively ty- changes in the regulatory framework of the ing the peasants to their home villages. With its hukou system over the past 30 years shall be commitment to full employment, the socialist summarised in the following section. state controlled all urban employment.

A third factor related to the enforcement of the 2. A Brief Historical Review of the Hukou registration rules was the supply of daily com- System before China’s Reform (1958-1981) modities, especially staple foods. In the course of the 1950s, the state monopolised the distribution In 1958, the Chinese government began using of virtually all goods, and most free markets dis- the family register system ‘PRC Regulations on appeared. Of course, the peasants grew their own 2012/3 The Hukou System and Temporary Rural-Urban Migration in China 235 food, but the state procurement left them with lit- form in the early 1980s, China’s urban residents tle more than a bare minimum, and that again was enjoyed a range of social, economic and cultural allocated on the basis of team membership. The benefits, while China’s 800 million rural residents food products procured from the peasants served were treated as second-class citizens. to feed the urban population. The state supplied the cities with grain and other food at low prices. Social welfare benefits, including food rations – in the not-so-distant past! – and, even now, ac- Two other factors that contributed to the effec- cess to subsidised housing, education, medical tive enforcement of the registration regulations care, retirement benefits, and the right to em- were the severe shortage of urban housing and a ployment in all but menial jobs, are available climate of strict social and political control2. mainly to those with an urban hukou. An urban hukou confers great advantages in life chanc- Basically, at that time, without hukou, people es. The hukou system created two classes of could not move. There were very few people citizens differing sharply in living standards and moving around in the country, but their status was income (Chan 1994; Knight and Song 1999). practically that of illegal immigrants. These disparities cannot be attributed to the dif- ference between the agricultural and non-agri- As a matter of fact, moving from one place to cultural sectors, as even within the non-agricul- another as a household was very hard indeed. tural sector returns to human capital are much Migrant workers required six different passports lower in rural than in urban China. The institution- to work in provinces other than their own. Peo- al boundary between rural and urban China cre- ple who worked outside their authorised domain ated by the household registration system seems or geographical area did not qualify for grain ra- to prevail over other institutional distinctions in tions, employer-provided housing or health care the Chinese social stratification system. (Pines et al. 1998: 334). Compared to rural- urban migration, which was as difficult as get- The effectiveness of the hukou system in re- ting permanent residence in EU countries, rural- stricting internal migration relied on two other rural migration was relatively easier. administrative systems, through which rationing was carried out. At the rural side, the commune For all kinds of administrative purposes, the entire system enabled local governments to tie peas- country was divided into a hierarchy of places, very ants to the land. All adults had to participate in much in a Christallerian mode. In this context, only agricultural production to receive food rations moves between communities of the same rank or for their households (Parish and Whyte 1978) to communities of a lower rank were permitted and migration was generally prohibited except without going through special procedures. with the permission of the local government. At the urban side, the principal administrative units for most urban residents were the workplace 4. Impacts of the Hukou System organisations (danwei), which administered most social services for their employees (Bian Institutionally, the hukou regulations divided 1994; Naughton 1997; Walder 1986). Without China into two systems, with an ‘invisible wall’ a work unit, it was very difficult to survive in a between them: the urban and the rural system city because housing, food, and other social (Chan 1994). The hukou System was also an services were unavailable through the market. obstacle to the shifting boundaries of economic Moreover, because employment quotas in all and social participation. Before the economic re- urban work units were tightly controlled by the 236 Jijiao Zhang DIE ERDE government labour administration (Walder surplus in rural areas. The abolition of the com- 1986), even rural residents willing to risk los- mune system freed peasants to seek work in the ing food rations by leaving their home villages industrial and service sectors. At the same time, would have little chance of getting a job in a both push and pull factors increased the propen- city. This tight administrative control on both sity to migrate from the countryside into the sides virtually eliminated unauthorised rural- cities. Since the late 1980s, the rush of millions to-urban migration in the pre-reform era. of peasants from other provinces to Guangdong after the Chinese New Year Festival, creating In this situation of a large rural population of massive traffic congestion and turning open poor farm workers, hukou limited mass migra- spaces in Canton into large squatter and slum tion from the land to the cities to ensure a cer- areas almost overnight, has become something tain degree of structural stability. The hukou of a seasonal feature of national life. Secondly, system was an instrument of the planned/com- the erosion of the rigid danwei-based rationing mand economy. By regulating labour, it ensured system in urban areas created social space for an adequate supply of low-cost workers to the rural migrants (Liang and White 1997: 322). plethora of state-owned businesses. For some time, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security In October 1984, the State Council announced continued to justify this hukou system on pub- that peasants working in towns would be granted lic order grounds, and also provided demograph- the ‘self-supplied food grain’ (zili kouliang) ic data for government central planning hukou, marking the first opening in the rigid di- (Laquian 2005: 320f.). Under the system, rural vision between city and countryside. The starting citizens had little access to social welfare in cit- point was that grain coupons (liangpiao) were not ies and were excluded from receiving public longer required to buy food. This made it possi- services such as education, medical care, hous- ble for many migrant workers to leave their land ing and employment, regardless of how long they and go to cities to seek labour-intensive work. may had lived or worked in the city. Typical jobs were work in textile factories, con- struction work, and jobs as nannies. In 1985, the Ministry of Public Security issued a new regula- 5. The First Few Steps towards a Reform tion for rural migrants to obtain ‘temporary resi- of the Hukou System since 1982 dence permits’ (zanzhuzheng). It even became possible for some to unofficially migrate and get There can be no doubt that population mobility a job without a valid permit. In practice, hukou was in China has increased tremendously since the no longer enforced as rigidly as before. In the Third Plenary Session of the Central Commit- same year the National Congress allowed citizens tee in late 1978 which signaled the beginning of to use their identity cards as proof of identifica- the reforms; in particular, on January 1, 1982, tion (before 1985 only the hukou could be used). the Central Committee of the CPC released the ‘Summary of the National Working Conference To enhance the development of the service sec- on Rural Work’. Firstly, the introduction of the tor in cities, the government allowed peasants to ‘family responsibility system’, which made in- enter cities and establish small urban businesses dividual families responsible for particular plots such as shoe-repair shops, barbershops and res- and allowed producers to sell any surplus prod- taurants. In addition, millions of young peasants ucts remaining after paying the grain tax on the were hired in the growing market sector outside open market, greatly improved the efficiency of the redistributive system. Even some state-owned agricultural production, creating a large labour work units preferred to hire rural peasants because 2012/3 The Hukou System and Temporary Rural-Urban Migration in China 237 they had no obligation to provide housing and oth- Beginning in the late 1980s, many city govern- er social benefits for peasant workers or because ments started charging migrants high fees – rang- the jobs were unattractive to urban workers. ing from several thousand to tens of thousands of Yuan – in exchange for a hukou in towns and It should be emphasised, however, that the larg- cities. City governments justified this practice on est part of this increased mobility was due to the grounds that they should be compensated for ‘temporary migration’3, i.e. migration without extending urban benefits to migrants. At the same transfer of hukou. Permanent or official migra- time, in order to boost employment, collective tion did not show any revolutionary changes. In and private enterprises were not only allowed but the censuses of 1982 and 1990 people were were actively encouraged. Peasants could go to counted as permanent residents of the place cities to sell their surplus products, and after they were staying at when the census was tak- decades of socialist neglect, the service sector en if they had their hukou in that place or if they was expected to grow, both reducing unemploy- had been away from their place of registration ment and improving the quality of life. The re- for over one year. In 1982, this second group, forms led to an enormous construction boom, which can be regarded as long-term unofficial both in cities and in the countryside, and most of migrants, comprised 66 million people or the physical work was actually taken over by 6.5 % of the total population; in 1990 their peasant workers (Guo and Zhang 2010). number had grown to about 200 million (18 %), indicating that in only eight years, long-term migration without hukou transfer had more than 6. Gradual Relaxation of the tripled (Fan 2005). No national figures are Hukou System since the 1990s available for mobility for less than one year, but this group is no doubt several times larger than There are a number of practical circumstances the group of long-term migrants. which made the emergence of this temporary mi- grant population possible. With improved sup- Although geographic mobility and employment plies and a free market, rationing lost much of its change became easier, the social concomitants former importance and most products could be of hukou status persisted. No matter how simi- bought with money. Following good harvests and lar their jobs were to those held by urban work- dietary changes, many provinces completely ers, employees with rural hukou status were still abolished grain coupons in the early 1990s. classified as ‘peasant workers’ (workers who come from rural areas) and thereby were not The system underwent further relaxation since entitled to the many labour rights and benefits the 1990s. Beginning in the mid-1990s, large enjoyed by employees with urban hukou. As cities, such as Shanghai and Shenzhen, and Chan (1994: 135) asserted, “Chinese reform many small cities and towns began to offer socialism has created, structurally, a sizable ‘blue-stamp’ hukou to migrants who met high ‘second class’ of urban citizens without perma- skill requirements and were able to make siz- nent urban household registration status. This able investments. The practice of charging informal segment of urban labour and population migrants high fees in exchange for urban huk- is an extension of the rural segment, which was ous continued. On the one hand, the relaxation largely bottled up in the countryside under allowed rural residents to buy a temporary ur- Mao.” In the reform era the hukou system re- ban residency permit, which meant that they mained largely in force and continued to shape could work legally; fees for these permits de- socioeconomic status and life chances. creased gradually to a fairly affordable level. 238 Jijiao Zhang DIE ERDE

On the other hand, people from rural areas reforming the residency system was a very con- could buy urban residents’ registration on troversial topic. There was some recognition for many township levels all around China. Yu some time that hukou was an impediment to eco- (2002) estimated that by the end of 1993, nomic development (Macleod 2001). China’s three million rural migrants had purchased a accession to the World Trade Organisation hukou in a city or town, raising 25 billion Yuan (WTO) forced the government to embrace this in local government revenues. The principal reform to liberalise labour mobility, speeding up criteria for obtaining a hukou in small cities its economic reform (Yao 2002). For example, and towns were a permanent and legal place of in 2001, the Beijing government began to issue residence and a stable source of income. three types of temporary permits, which deter- mined the services migrants had access to and the In 1998 the State Council approved four guide- extent of government control and monitoring. lines that further relaxed the urban hukou: In 2003, after the uproar surrounding the death (a) Children could choose to inherit a hukou of Sun Zhigang had alarmed the authorities, the from the father or the mother (previously, laws on ‘Custody and Repatriation’ were re- the hukou was inherited from the mother). pealed (Au et al. 2007). The State Council issued This means that discrimination against ru- a directive affirming the rights of rural migrants ral women has been alleviated since 1998, to work in cities. Adherence to these guidelines when the hukou became inheritable and directives was, however, left to individual through either the father’s or the mother’s city governments which is why the extent and line (Au et al. 2007). specifics of the hukou reform in large cities vary greatly. In general, the larger the city, the (b) Rural residents who had lived in the city for more difficult it is to obtain a local hukou. A more than one year and whose spouses held number of large and medium-sized cities, such an urban hukou were eligible to be granted as Nanjing, Xi’an and Zhuhai, have relaxed their an urban hukou. [Source?] criteria for granting a hukou (Cai 2002). By 2004 the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture esti- (c) Elderly parents whose only children lived mated that over 100 million people registered as in cities were able to receive an urban ‘rural’ were working in cities. For instance, hukou. [Source?] Shijiazhuang, in Hebei Province, is among the most advanced cities, having granted 450,000 (d) People who had made investments, estab- new between August 2001 and June 2003 lished enterprises or purchased apart- (Wang 2003). However, hukou reform has been ments, had permanent jobs and accommo- minimal in most of the large cities. Beijing, dation, and who had been living in a city Guangzhou and Shanghai, where the hukou was for more than one year were eligible for a still a primary gatekeeper, have been especially local hukou. [Source?] resistant to a hukou reform. For example, uni- versity graduates who wish to apply for govern- ment jobs in Beijing must obtain a hukou for 7. The Hukou System in the Wake of Beijing city. Many enterprises in Beijing only China’s Accession to WTO, 2001-2010 hire candidates holding a Beijing hukou. To quote another example, the hope to give an in- Although the hukou system as it was in opera- centive to the property market prompted Shang- tion was widely regarded as unfair and inhumane, hai to offer a so-called ‘blue hukou’ to certain 2012/3 The Hukou System and Temporary Rural-Urban Migration in China 239

Tab. 1 Timeline of reforms in China’s hukou system / Zeitliche Abfolge von Reformen im chinesischen Hukou-System Time Cities Reform March 2008 Changchun, Jilin Applicants with ID cards can apply for the residence permits at province local offices. April 1, 2008 Jiaxing and Cixi, A new rule is issued in the two cities stipulating that from Oct. 1 Zhejiang province 2009, qualified migrants can file for Zhejiang residence permits. Aug. 1, 2008 Shenzhen, The new residence permits grant the best social welfare benefits Guangdong compared with other cities. Apart from medical care, education, province employment and social security, Shenzhen grants its migrants more welfare such as career and financial advice, free vaccinations for children, the ability to travel in and out of Hong Kong and Macao. Aug. 1, 2009 Taiyuan, Shanxi All migrants can get residence permits after registration with local province police, and can file for permanent residence five years later. Dec. 25, 2009 Dalian, Liaoning Migrants older than 16 are entitled to file for residence permits province once their temporary residence permits expire. Jan. 1, 2010 Foshan, The three cities cancelled the temporary residence permit. People Guangzhou, holding temporary residence permits can change them into Zhuhai and Dong- residence permits and file for permanent residence seven years guan, Guangdong later. Province Source: China Daily, 01/09/2010

migrants in 1994, a programme that was geared Hebei, Liaoning, Shandong, Guangdong prov- towards buyers of property in the city. Some inces, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 42,000 blue hukous had been issued by the time and Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing municipal- the programme was suspended in 2002 to help calm ities, have launched pilot programmes to exper- down the surging property prices. The legacy of the iment with a system that narrowed the differen- blue-stamp hukou and the logic of creaming, tiation between rural and urban residents. In however, persists. Only an extremely small some provinces, such as the economically well- minority of rural migrants – who satisfy stringent developed Jiangsu province, governments allow criteria concerning educational attainment, skills, migrants with stable jobs and a safe place of res- financial ability, and health – are awarded local idence to register where they live and work rath- hukou and given access to urban benefits. er than at their birthplaces, so that they can en- joy the urban welfare system. Gansu province in In 2006, six teams composed of members from western China (an underdeveloped area) also 14 central government departments, including allows rural migrant workers who have lived in the Ministries of Education, Health, Labour and a stable city residence for three years to regis- Social Security, were dispatched to 12 provinc- ter as non-rural citizens (Xinhua News 2006). es to research how to implement a significant hukou reform process in the best possible way. However, the central government has not set a In the meantime, twelve provinces, including time frame for national reform. In May 2007, the 240 Jijiao Zhang DIE ERDE

Ministry of Public Security completed a report Shanghai hukou: seven years in town as a legal on the hukou reform, highlighting the legal place resident, payment of social security taxes over of residence as the basic criterion for an urban seven years, full payment of income and other hukou but once again affirming the autonomy of taxes, at least mid-grade professional or techni- city governments to establish their own criteria cal degree and no crime record or violation of birth for granting the hukou (Sun 2007). control policies. Shanghai is now hoping to attract young migrant workers of the age between 25 and Between 2008 and 2010, at least ten cities in the 35 years to the financial capital, in order to “re- country abandoned the temporary residence system. plenish a labour pool that has begun drying up” Instead, the residence permit was established in these (stated by Xie Lingli, a director of the Shanghai places, with people enjoying more benefits, such as Municipal Population and Family Planning Com- social security and employment (see Tab 1). mission; Lam 2011) in a rapidly aging population coupled with low birth rates. It is predicted that On August 21, 2008, the Beijing City Govern- by the year 2015, there will be an almost 8 % drop ment published a new regulation which stipulat- in the availability of able-bodied workforce in the ed that migrants whose monthly income was city. But not only does the hukou status affect the lower than 1,600 Yuan would not be issued a benefits received by the employees, this is also a living and working permit, which is reserved for pressing issue for the employers, who are ulti- those with diplomas and/or with specialised mately responsible for covering the employees’ skills required in key industries. The Beijing liv- urban social insurance (as stated by Xie Lingli, see ing and working permit allows bearers the same above, on July 12, 2011). rights as Beijing residents. Those who cannot meet the new requirements will only get tempo- Other major cities in China also impose strict resi- rary residence cards with restricted rights. The dence permit systems to control the migrants’ liv- primary purpose of the living permit is popula- ing, working and welfare conditions. Chengdu was tion control. The government aimed to keep the one of the first cities to announce a pilot programme population of Beijing below 16 million by 2010 eliminating the differences between urban and rural in order to achieve a gradual increase in popula- hukou. China’s central government is planning to tion so as not to overload the city’s already create the world’s largest urban area in the Pearl stretched resources. It has recently been report- River Delta by connecting no less than nine cities ed that Beijing is going to remove the restriction together, which will undoubtedly have an impact on which says that only people with a Beijing hukou the hukou system. For example, in Guangzhou, the can buy cars. This means that in future, non-locals capital of Guangdong Province and the central city will also be able to purchase cars in Beijing and in the Pearl River Delta, which has not extended res- will no longer have to use the name of another idence and working permits to non-locals, all peo- Beijing local or company when buying a car. ple who have migrated from other parts of the coun- try hold the same temporary residence card, no In 2009, Shanghai, the east coast metropolis of matter how long they have been living there or how 19 mill. inhabitants, announced that more of the much tax they pay to the city. A large number of 6 mill. people from elsewhere in China would be migrants cannot enjoy the same rights as Guangzhou permitted to live in Shanghai and become local citizens, even though they are leading a sometimes citizens. The hukou requirements will be relaxed luxurious life in the city (China Daily 2004). for an increasing number of talented Chinese from elsewhere in the country. The new policy China’s floating population of migrant workers outlined modified criteria for applying for a reached a record 211 million in 2009 and will 2012/3 The Hukou System and Temporary Rural-Urban Migration in China 241 hit 350 million by 2050 if government policies 1980s, 70-80 million in the early and mid-1990s, remain unchanged. This is bound to cause more 100-140 million in the late 1990s (NBS 2002). pressure on the government to reform its man- The 2005 national one-percent population sam- agement and service policies for the migrant ple survey reported an increase of the floating population in order to ensure their livelihood. population to 150 million in 2005 (NBS 2006). By now, the total floating population encompass- es more than 210 million migrants. Among the 8. Discussion: The Need for Continuous total floating population, 42.8 % were born af- Reform of the Hukou System ter 1980. The younger generation is becoming the majority of the floating group. They have increas- The hukou registration system is important in ing demands for public services such as prenatal three aspects which are interrelated: It is an and postnatal care and reproductive health check- instrument of development policy, aimed at ups. In the next three decades, another 300 mil- keeping the urban populations small while lion people from rural areas are expected to find fostering industrial development; it is a social work and take up residency in cities. At the same institution which rigidly divides Chinese so- time, more and more migrant workers are flock- ciety into a rural and an urban segment; and it ing to inland cities, partly reversing a trend in is an instrument of state control which the which waves of people had moved to coastal re- state employs to cultivate clientelism. gions in search of jobs. More than half of the floating population have been living in a city for One may wonder how many farmers have found more than three years and 66 % brought their loopholes within the limitations of the hukou spouses, children or parents to live with them. system. For example, residents from China’s Western Provinces have become nóngmínnóngmíngôngJǀQJ The 2010 Census data show that the urbanisa- (rural migrant workers) or are labelled as tion rate in China has already reached 49.71 %, dd gôngz i΁JǀQJz΁i (young household member who and China’s cities are likely to continue to grow leave home to work) when settling in the cities considerably. New research by the McKinsey of the East. In addition, the floating population Global Institute projects that by 2025 China’s (liudong renkou) is a unique concept in China cities will add 325 million more people, includ- that is tied to the hukou system (Goodkind and ing about 230 million migrants. Following the West 2002). Individuals who are not living at current trend, the country’s urban population their hukou location are considered floating. will reach 926 million by 2025 and will exceed Regardless of when the actual migration occurred, 1 billion by 2030 (Devan et al. 2008). Mass mi- a person is counted as part of the floating popu- gration to the cities is leading to urban sprawl, lation as long as his or her usual place of residence the loss of arable land, and spiralling demand for is different from the hukou location. In practice, energy and natural resources, as well as contrib- the definition of the floating population is defined uting to the challenge of providing social ser- by the duration of the migration4. vices. It is time for policy makers to rethink their approach to these problems and to the di- Combining intercounty and intracounty mi- rection that urbanisation has taken so far. grants, the 2000 census reported a floating popu- lation of 144.4 million (11.6 % of China’s Between 2007 and 2008 the author was the team population). This number is consistent with most leader of a survey of the Chinese Academy of published sources, which estimate that the float- Social Sciences conducted in four big cities – ing population was about 30 million in the early Shenzhen (South), Huhhot (North), Qingdao 242 Jijiao Zhang DIE ERDE

(East), and Kunming (West), representing four than 38 % called for the system to be abandoned different parts of the country. The total valid entirely (based on a week-long poll conducted sample comprised 573 urban migrants. The re- in March 2007 by website Sina.com and Social search methods included personal life histories, Survey Center of China Youth Daily). in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation as well as formal ques- Others argue that migrant labour is still impor- tionnaires. Generally speaking, the survey re- tant for stimulating the urban economy and vealed that 53 % of the respondents had stayed boosting the expansion of urban industries and in the city for over three years. But this varied services. Because most rural-urban migrants considerably between the four cities, for exam- engage in low-paid manual and services types of ple, Qingdao (81.2 %), Shenzhen (79.4 %), Huh- work, they fill jobs that are shunned by most ur- hot (34.9 %), and Kunming (31.9 %). 26.5 % banites who can specialise in more prestigious were able to gain urban hukou in the four cities. jobs. Migrants in cities also increase consump- 58.6 % of them had temporary registration hu- tion, which creates employment for others. kou only. Over 65 % brought the whole family to the city. Our research showed that a growing Rural-urban migrants live outside their areas of number of migrants who relocated to find bet- official registration, with much less access to ter jobs in cities tended to stay longer or even education and government services, and in sever- resettle with their entire families (Zhang 2007, al respects occupy a social and economic status 2009a). Moreover, they have formed hundreds similar to illegal immigrants. For example, the of concentrated communities of all sizes in the children of ‘peasant workers’ are not allowed to cities (Zhang 2003, 2009b). enter city schools at their parents’ place of resi- dence, even now they have to live with their grand- As China is struggling with the social effects of parents or uncles in order to go to school in their a widening rural-urban divide, there have been local hometown in the rural areas. They are called growing calls to reform the hukou system, ow- home-staying children by Chinese government ing to the fact that millions of farmers have ille- departments. Chinese researchers reported that gally started moving to towns and cities in order there are about 130 mill. home-staying children to find work. Hukou has played an important role without parents year by year (Cai 2002). as a basic data provider and for population reg- istration in certain historical periods, but it has For stratification and mobility studies, the very become irrational given the irresistible trend of fact that an urban hukou status is so difficult to migration. China needs to propose a way to deal achieve for those of rural origin, and is so se- with the inequalities across the Chinese society lective in favour of the best and the brightest of and bridge the divide. Many scholars have sug- the rural population, provides a possible expla- gested to eliminate the two-tiered household nation for the weak association between par- registration system and to allow freer migration ents’ and children’s occupational status in ur- between the countryside and the cities. ban areas. A high rate of inter-generational mobility and a weak zero-order association In another survey, 92 % of 11,168 respondents between parent’s and offspring’s occupational stated that the hukou system was in need of re- status found in early studies of social mobility form. More than 53 % said that restrictive poli- and status attainment in urban China (Bian cies attached to the system, such as limits on 1994; Blau and Ruan 1990; Parish 1984; access to education, healthcare, employment and Whyte and Parish 1978) led some scholars to social insurance, should be eliminated. More claim that China was an exceptionally ‘open’ 2012/3 The Hukou System and Temporary Rural-Urban Migration in China 243 society in which state egalitarian policies ef- the cities who have moved there in search of work. fectively eliminated inherited class privileges. China’s rapid economic development over the past An important message from our analysis of 30 years has become one of the economic won- hukou mobility is that status attainment and ders of the modern world. But behind China’s eco- social mobility research based on urban sam- nomic boom are its urban migrants. They work in ples makes little sense, since it is likely to be the construction industry, in manufacturing, in subject to a severe selection bias (Winship and food and domestic services, providing a source of Mare 1992). The urban population includes both abundant, cheap and exploitable labour for China’s those who were born into urban families (or economic boom (Guo and Zhang 2010). whose villages were incorporated into towns and cities) and those from peasant origin who ac- At least two quantitative targets in the 11th five- quired urban status through their own efforts and year plan (2006-2010) suggested that the govern- hence achieved extremely high-status urban oc- ment encouraged migration. First, the level of cupations. The extreme upward mobility of the lat- urbanisation was expected to increase, from about ter group clearly has the effect of reducing the 43 % in 2006 to 47 % in 2010, indicating that a inter-generational occupational status correlation. moderate pace of rural-urban migration was pre- dicted and encouraged. Second, by 2010, an ad- Examples of lifting hukou limitations for the ditional 45 million rural workers were expected sake of market development have actually not to have shifted from rural to urban sectors. The been rare in the recent past, for instance the 11th five-year plan has legitimised a development lifting of restrictions on home buying when the trajectory of increased urbanisation and rural- housing market was depressed. It seems that urban labour transfer that will certainly have to non-locals will not have access to all the usual result in further hukou reform. resources and services until they are abundant in the market. For example, migrant workers used to be required to use ‘employees’ cards’ 9. Conclusion until the floating population was brought under greater control. Migrant workers construct and From what has been discussed above, it be- contribute to our cities. The taxes they pay go comes clear that the hukou system is one of into the government’s public finances. There- China’s most complex, most studied and most fore, the migrant workers should be treated as controversial social policy element and relates fairly and equally as the locals. directly to the Communist era’s state control of most aspects of a citizen’s life. The house- Regarding migration and the hukou system, the hold registration system, though it played a government has adopted many reforms on popu- positive role in the past, now to some extent lation migration which enable rural residents to stands in the way of China’s modernisation, settle in towns more freely. The reforms intro- which is essential for the country’s further duced an identity card system, speeded up the urbanisation and industrialisation. In the past development of small cities and towns and per- 30 years, China’s economic success is evident, fected the rural household registration system. with a forest of construction cranes permeat- Since the adoption of the policy of reform and of ing almost every major city. This, however, has opening up, China has witnessed an explosion of only exacerbated the problem of urbanisation migration of rural labour to urban areas in search and industrialisation by drawing more and more of work opportunities. Today, there are more than rural inhabitants off their farms and into the 210 million migrant workers from rural areas in city in search of a better life. The subsequent 244 Jijiao Zhang DIE ERDE expansion of the service industry in the cities, Notes in line with the expanding middle class, has created a vacuum in the secondary sector that 1 ‘Hukou’ has been adopted by English-language au- rural labourers hope to fill. diences to refer to both the huji system and an in- dividual’s hukou. A hukou or huji refers to the sys- Reform of the hukou system began in 1982, and tem of residency permits which dates back to an- the system has gone through several progressive cient China, where household registration was re- quired by law in mainland China and . A stages. At the beginning, the reform was a top- hukou can also refer to a family register in many down project (handed down from central govern- contexts since the household registration record is ment to local government), however, since then, issued per family and usually includes the personal many modifications have been added by provinc- information of all members in the family. In China, es and large cities, and even some smaller cit- family registers were in existence as early as the Xia ies. We also find that in the past few years local Dynasty (BC. 2100-1600). In the centuries which fol- governments had a stronger motivation to revise lowed, the family register developed into an organi- the hukou system than the central government. sation of families and clans for purposes of taxation, conscription and social control. A similar household As China’s 12th national five-year plan (2011- registration system exists in Japan (), , 2015) plans to “ensure and improve the peo- and North (). In the hoju system was abolished on 1 January 2008. ple’s well-being” as well as to “promote long- term, steady and rapid economic development 2 From around 1953 to 1976, police would periodically and social harmony and stability”, providing the arrest those who were found without valid residence appropriate means for citizens to become more permit, place them in detention centres and expel them mobile socially and geographically within the from cities (Waddington 1999). Administration regula- country has become more of a priority than in tions issued in 1982 known as ‘custody and repatriation’ the past. The government will continue to ad- authorised police to detain people, and ‘repatriate’ them just its policies concerning the settlement of to their permanent residency location. rural residents in cities based on legal and per- 3 manent residence, stable occupation or income. The policy requires from migrants to the city three China’s government should gradually change prerequisites: temporary residence registration, employ- ment permit, and family planning (birth control). Huk- the current system to a unified household regi- ou has caused migrants endless troubles. People had stration system which will eventually eliminate to apply for a temporary residence permit issued by the the rural/non-rural division. local government to stay in the area.

The hukou system may have served as an ef- 4 The 1990 census specified that a person must have fective policy instrument at its time, but it is left the hukou location for at least one year before definitely outdated. On the other hand, it is far he or she is considered part of the floating popula- from being dead. The reform of the hukou sys- tion. In the 2000 census, the period was shortened to tem has not yet reached a satisfactory end, six months. The spatial criterion was also changed: largely because it has many complicated pol- In the 1990 census, the floating population included icies attached to it, and any steps into the people who had moved from one county (or county- level city or urban district) to another; in the 2000 cen- wrong direction could result in social prob- sus, the spatial criterion was changed to sub-county lems. Future research on both spatial and so- units (townships, towns and streets). The 1990 cen- cial mobility in China still needs to attend to sus thus counted only the inter-county floating popu- the hukou system as a central stratifying agent lation, while the 2000 census counted both the inter- in contemporary Chinese society. county and intra-county floating population. 2012/3 The Hukou System and Temporary Rural-Urban Migration in China 245

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Zusammenfassung: Das Hukou-System als Chinas pays en développement. La Chine, instaurant le sys- wichtigstes Steuerungsinstrument der temporären tème de hukou (enregistrement des foyers) en 1958 Land-Stadt-Migration und seine jüngeren pour réguler la migration, l’emploi et la fourniture de Wandlungen produits alimentaires essentiels, représente une ex- ception. Selon les règles de ce système, les individus Massenhafte und ungesteuerte Zuwanderung aus étaient tenus de rester dans la zone où ils étaient nés. ländlichen Räumen in Städte ist typisch für die En ce sens, le système de hukou établissait une meisten Entwicklungsländer. China dagegen führte frontière claire entre zones rurales et urbaines. Afin 1958 das Hukou-System (System der staatlichen d’accéder à l’éducation, à la nourriture, au logement Haushaltsregistrierung) ein, um die Migration zwi- et à différents services sociaux de la ville, il était schen ländlichen und städtischen Räumen, die Be- nécessaire de faire partie d’une unité de travail, mais schäftigung und die Versorgung mit Gütern des seuls les résidents enregistrés comme citadins étaient täglichen Bedarfs zu kontrollieren. Demnach muss- autorisés à rejoindre une telle unité. Au cours des 30 te eine Person ihr Leben lang in der Region wohnen dernières années, le gouvernement chinois a introduit bleiben, wo sie einmal registriert worden war. Damit de nombreuses réformes du système de hukou, wurden eindeutige Grenzen zwischen Stadt und Land principalement pour répondre à la demande croissan- gezogen. Um in der Stadt Zugang zu Bildung, Nah- te de travailleurs peu qualifiés dans les villes en pleine rungsmitteln, Unterkunft und einer ganzen Reihe an expansion. De nos jours, même les migrants enregis- sozialen Dienstleistungen zu erhalten, musste man trés comme ruraux sont autorisés à vivre dans la ville Mitglied einer Brigade sein, der nur Arbeiter mit s’ils remplissent certaines conditions. Toutefois, le einem städtischen Hukou beitreten konnten. In den niveau de libéralisation varie d’une province à l’autre vergangenen 30 Jahren wurde über verschiedene et d’une métropole à l’autre, créant ainsi des diffé- Reformen eine Lockerung des strengen Hukou- rences notoires dans l’application du cadre régle- Systems herbeigeführt, hauptsächlich um den Man- mentaire. Le nombre total de travailleurs migrants gel an Arbeitskräften für minderqualifizierte Arbei- en Chine a atteint un pic inédit de 211 millions en ten zu kompensieren. So kann heute auch ländliche 2009 et devrait encore augmenter dans les années à Bevölkerung unter bestimmten Bedingungen in der venir. Par conséquent, selon l’auteur, de nouvelles Stadt wohnen. Landesweit gibt es jedoch von Pro- réformes sont nécessaires pour créer des conditions vinz zu Provinz und von Metropole zu Metropole de vie plus équitables et ouvrir la voie à une crois- erhebliche Unterschiede im Grad der Liberalisie- sance économique continue. Dans le cas contraire, rung und Lockerung des Hukou-Systems. Die gro- c’est l’ensemble du système de hukou qui risque- ße Anzahl von 211 Millionen Wanderarbeitern im rait bien de devenir obsolète. Jahr 2009 zeigt deutlich, dass dieses System weite- rer Reformen bedarf oder sogar ganz abgeschafft werden muss, um gleichwertige Lebensverhältnisse zu schaffen und der weiteren wirtschaftlichen Ent- wicklung des Landes nicht im Wege zu stehen. Prof. Dr. Jijiao Zhang, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 27, Zhongguancun Nadajie Road, Haidian District, Résumé: Le système de Hukou en Chine comme le Beijing 100081, P.R. China, [email protected] cadre réglementaire le plus important pour les migrations rurales-urbaines temporaires en Chine et ses changements récents

La migration massive et incontrôlée des zones rura- Manuscript submitted: 02/01/2012 les vers les villes est courante dans la plupart des Accepted for publication: 03/04/2012