China will remove restrictions on Hukou, or household, registration in key second- and lower- tier cities in an effort to promote urbanization and employment.
A circular issued by the National Development and Reform Commission on Monday said the government will completely scrap restrictions in large cities with populations between 1 million and 3 million in 2019.
Meanwhile the Hukou registration restrictions in cities with population between 3 million to 5 million should also be “comprehensively relaxed,” and those set for certain targeted groups will be completely removed.
For the super big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, the quota for new Hukou registration should be enlarged and the rules streamlined, it said.
The authority also calls for cities to allow migrant workers who currently live in cities but lack an urban household registration to become registered. It also requires local governments to provide better public services, financing policies and business environment.