Houses in China - Part 7: The hukou system

China Travel Services

In China, every citizen must have a hukou, the formal residence registration. This is the document underlying the Chinese social and community management system. It determines people's careers by integrating residence, employment, and social welfare. Before the 1990's, there were a few ways for people to legitimately migrate, such as enrolling and going to universities. Otherwise, migrants would encounter a series of difficulties with social welfare and security benefits. Finding a place to live would be the first and biggest problem.

In our first episode, we had an introduction to Beijing's crowded quadrangles. In the early 1990's, Tian Bing was lucky to find a small room there. Even so, without a registered residence, he could hardly gain any sense of belonging in the city. Beijing and Shanghai have the strictest registered residence management systems in China. The feeling of being a stranger in an alien land was one that was widely shared among new migrants. One major factor was that they were not allowed to buy property in their new cities without the proper documents.

The rising tide of new migrants challenged the hukou system. Protection of migrants' rights drew nation-wide attention. Their lack of welfare and security caused a series of social problems. China is developing towards a more fluid society, which calls for a reform of the social management system, including the hukou and work unit systems. In 1994, Shanghai's local government established the Blue Seal Residence Permit system. Migrants could obtain permission to reside in Shanghai through investment, buying property and employment.

Tian Bing and Zhu Hong were two examples of successful pioneer migrants. Because of their efforts and painful experiences the reform of the hukou and housing systems was pushed forward. In April 2002, Shanghai's local government stopped issuing Blue Seal Residence Permits, because the number of migrants was placing too much strain on city infrastructure. This suggested that migrants would face many difficulties before they could settle down in cities permanently.