03.07.2007 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Query response on the second generation Resident Identity Card; security features; and how the card can be tested for authenticity ("The second-generation Resident Identity Card; security features; and how the card can be tested for authenticity [CHN102481.E]") [ID 21963]

Document(s): Open document

14.06.2007 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Query response on reports of corrupt officials issuing fraudulent Resident Identity Cards to unsuspecting rural residents and selling the authentic ones to "snakeheads" on the black market ("Reports of corrupt officials issuing fraudulent Resident Identity Cards to unsuspecting rural residents and selling the authentic ones to "snakeheads" on the black market (2004 - 2007) [CHN102486.E]") [ID 21966]

Document(s): Open document

13.06.2007 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Query response whether the Public Security Bureau (PSB) seizes Resident Identity Cards or passports from homes of people they are planning to arrest; circumstances under which the identity documents would be seized; whether a receipt would be issued ("Whether the Public Security Bureau (PSB) seizes Resident Identity Cards or passports from homes of people they are planning to arrest; circumstances under which the identity documents would be seized; whether a receipt would be issued (2005 - 2007) [ CHN102485.E]") [ID 21967]

Document(s): Open document

09.11.2006 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Query response on the process to obtain a People's Republic of China (PRC) driver's licence; documents required; whether the serial number on the national identity card is the same as the ID number that appears on the driver's licence ("Process to obtain a People's Republic of China (PRC) driver's licence; documents required; whether the serial number on the national identity card is the same as the ID number that appears on the driver's licence [CHN101489.E]") [ID 21972]

Document(s): Open document

27.06.2006 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Query response on household registration booklets (hukous) with loose pages inserted; whether or not hukous with loose pages exist in Changsha, Hunan province; the production of these hukous and their security features ("Household registration booklets (hukous) with loose pages inserted; whether or not hukous with loose pages exist in Changsha, Hunan province; the production of these hukous and their security features [CHN101420.E]") [ID 21973]

Document(s): Open document

17.01.2006 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Query response on the procedure to be followed when obtaining a replacement passport in Tianjin; the "G-series" passport ("The procedure to be followed when obtaining a replacement passport in Tianjin; the "G-series" passport (2004 - 2005) [CHN100669.E]") [ID 21980]

Document(s): Open document

16.01.2006 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Query response on the procedure to be followed when obtaining a replacement resident identity card in Tianjin ("The procedure to be followed when obtaining a replacement resident identity card in Tianjin (2003 - 2005) [ CHN100668.E]") [ID 21981]

Document(s): Open document

07.10.2005 - Source: Congressional-Executive Commission on China

Report on household registration system (hukou) imposing strict limits on ordinary citizens changing their permanent place of residence (origins of the system from 1950s to 1970s, changes from 1970s to 1990s, recent reforms, discrimination) ("China's Household Registration System: Sustained Reform Needed to Protect China's Rural Migrants") [#37587],  [ID 3602]

Document(s): Open document
Open document

07.10.2005 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Response on procedures for obtaining passport, including documents to be submitted, issuing authority, processing times and whether applicant must apply in person (2003 - 2005) ("Procedures for obtaining a passport, including documents to be submitted, the issuing authority, processing times, and whether the applicant must apply in person (2003 - 2005) [CHN100512.E]") [#44923],  [ID 3603]

Document(s): Open document

08.09.2005 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Response on manufacture, procurement, distribution and use of fraudulent documents, including passports, hukou, resident identity cards and summonses; situation in Guangdong and Fujian particularly (2001 - 2005) ("The manufacture, procurement, distribution and use of fraudulent documents, including passports, hukou, resident identity cards and summonses; the situation in Guangdong and Fujian particularly (2001 - 2005) [CHN100510.E]") [#44922],  [ID 3604]

Document(s): Open document

23.06.2005 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Response on whether the 15-digit identity number appearing on Resident Identity Cards issued prior to 1 October 1999 or a newly assigned 18-digit number would appear on official documents issued after 1 October 1999, if the Chinese citizen obtaining the official documents continued to be in possession of the 15-digit Resident Identity Card (January - May 2005) ("Whether the 15-digit identity number appearing on Resident Identity Cards issued prior to 1 October 1999 or a newly assigned 18-digit number would appear on official documents issued after 1 October 1999, if the Chinese citizen obtaining the official documents continued to be in possession of the 15-digit Resident Identity Card (January - May 2005) [CHN100040.E]") [#44926],  [ID 3605]

Document(s): Open document

04.2005 - Source: UK Home Office

Country Report April 2005 - Freedom of Movement: Houshold Registry and Identity Cards ("Country Report - April 2005") [#31975],  [ID 3606]

"Household Registry (hukou)

6.230 According to the USSD Report 2004:

“The Government's "hukou" system of national household registration underwent further liberalization during the year, as the country responded to economic demands for a more mobile labor force. Nonetheless, many persons could not officially change their residence or workplace within the country. Government and work unit permission were often required before moving from city to city. It was particularly difficult for peasants from rural areas to obtain household registration in some economically more developed urban areas. There remained a "floating population" of between 100 and 150 million economic migrants who lacked official residence status in cities. Without official residence status, it was difficult or impossible to gain full access to social services, including education. Further, migrant workers were generally limited to types of work considered least desirable by local residents, and they had little recourse when subject to abuse by employers and officials.” [2j] (Section 2 d.)

6.231 As noted by the US Embassy in China, “Hukous are issued for all Chinese and are inscribed to identify the carrier as a rural or non-rural, i.e., urban, resident. Each urban administrative entity (towns, cities, etc.) issues its own hukou, which entitles only registered inhabitants of that entity full access to social services, like education.” [4g]

6.232 The Embassy continues, “Hukou reforms differ among the areas involved, but set roughly the same qualifications for entitlement to urban registration. Basically, a person and his/her immediate family members can obtain urban hukous if he/she has a fixed residence and stable work in an urban area, usually defined as more than one year on the job.” [4g]

6.233 As reported by the Canadian IRB in their February 2005 report entitled China: Reform of the Household Registration System (hukou) (1998-2004), “Administration of the household registration system and issuance of hukou documents are the exclusive responsibility of the Public Security Bureau (PSB).” [3af] (Section 2)

6.234 The same source continued:

“According to Fei-Ling Wang, in today's China, people can travel relatively freely (9 Jan. 2005). Generally, "the worst punishment that an illegal migrant (floater) faces is forcible return to his/her hometown or village" (Wang 20 Jan. 2005; see also Carrillo 28 Jan. 2005). Wang adds that this is "often a losing battle" as the floaters simply return to the area from which they were removed (20 Jan. 2005).” [3af] (Section 6)

6.235 Furthermore the IBR stated:

“The hukou document is a booklet resembling a passport (Wang 16 Feb. 2005). Its cover is plastic or laminated (ibid.), of a reddish brown colour, bearing the China national emblem printed in gold (Canadian Consulate General in Hong Kong 18 Feb. 2005). Some booklets, issued mainly prior to 1990, may be larger and have a manila paper cover (Wang 16 Feb. 2005). The inside pages are not numbered, and are of a "bluish colour," although the blue may vary slightly depending on the age of the booklet (Canadian Consulate General in Hong Kong 22 Feb. 2005).

In a report received on 18 February 2005, the Canadian Consulate General in Hong Kong described the hukou booklet as follows:

“The second page of the hukou is the "Address Page" and contains the following items:

• Type of Household
• No. of Household
• Name of Household
• Address
• Household Special Seal from the Provincial Public Security Department
• Household Special Seal from the local issuing authority (right seal)
• Handling Person's signature/seal
• Date of Issue

The third page of the hukou booklet is the "Principal Holder Page" and contains the following items:

• Name
• Householder or relationship with householder
• Former Name
• Sex
• Place of Birth
• Ethnic Group
• Place of Origin
• Date of Birth
• Other address in the city
• Religion
• Identity card number
• Height
• Blood Type
• Education Level
• Marital Status
• Work Place
• Position
• When and from where moved in to this city
• When and from where moved in to this address
• Handling person's signature/seal
• Registration Date

The subsequent pages of the booklet contain the same information, but for other members of the household; the only difference is that the top right hand corner indicates the relationship between the individual named on this page and the principal householder (Canadian Consulate General in Hong Kong 18 Feb. 2005). All altered or deleted items on the hukou must be stamped by the issuing authority (ibid.).

Although hukou booklets are normally printed, hand-written booklets still exist, either because they had to be issued urgently, or because the PSB office does not have computers (ibid. 6 Jan. 2005). Manual entries remain common (ibid.; Wang 16 Feb. 2005), but not in urban or fairly developed rural areas (ibid.).” [3af] (Section 7)

2.636 This report also noted:

“Generally, with the exception of minors or the medically disabled, one must apply in person to the PSB office to obtain a hukou or a personal identity card (Wang 9 Jan. 2005). According to Wang, with the right connections and possibly a power of attorney, duplicate documents may be issued to a person via a relative or a friend (ibid.). With a valid reason, and a small fee paid to the local police station, a person may obtain a duplicate hukou booklet (ibid.).“ [3af] (Section 7)

6.237 As documented by the USSD Report 2004:

“The March 2003 death of university graduate Sun Zhigang in a custody-and-repatriation camp designed to hold illegal migrants focused public attention on abuses in the administrative detention system. Under the custody-and-repatriation system, police detained and forcibly repatriated to their home provinces migrants, petitioners, and political activists caught without an identification card, work permit, or temporary residence permit. Public outcry following Sun's death played an important role in the State Council's decision, in June 2003, to abolish the custody-and-repatriation system and convert custody-and-repatriation camps across the country into voluntary humanitarian aid shelters for the homeless. Initial reports indicated that most current residents of the camps are indeed there voluntarily. In June, a facility employee who urged inmates to beat Sun was sentenced to death. During the year, one inmate was given a suspended death sentence, and 17 others received prison sentences in connection with Sun's death.” [2j] (Section 1 c.)

(See also Section/Administrative Detention)

6.238 According to a report by the Canadian IRB dated 19 April 2002:

“A hukou does not expire so there is no need for it to be renewed. There are occasions when a hukou required amending, i.e.: if the person moves, if there is an addition to the family, if the person gets married, etc. The information that we have been able to obtain is that amendments to the hukou are made by the local government, [at the] local police station, [which is] responsible for issuing and maintaining the hukou.” [3m] (Based on information supplied by an official at the Chinese Embassy in Canada, 11 April 2002)

Identity Cards

6.239 As reported by the official People’s Daily newspaper on 7 April 2004, China began issuing new computerised (second generation) ID cards to residents in Beijing on the same day. [13d]

6.240 The report stated that:

“According to Miao [an official from the MPS], unlike before, young people aged below 16 are also entitled to apply for a second-generation ID card through their guardians’ agency. The second-generation ID card has varying expiration periods ranging from 10 years for people aged between 16 and 25, 20 years for people aged between 26 and 45 and long-term for people older than 46. In addition to Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, the new ID cards will be officially distributed nationwide in 2005 as the issuing of the first-generation cards halts. The shift is expected to finish by the end of 2008.” [13d]

6.241 As reported by the Canadian IRB on 13 March 2002, “The new card will replace the current paper laminated identification card that contains a person’s name, photo, birth date and identification number and is purportedly relatively easy to counterfeit.” As noted by the same source, opinion is divided over whether or not a viable national-wide computer system for checking first generation ID cards exists. [3l]

6.242 Another report by the Canadian IRB dated 20 April 2004 stated:

“With respect to the procedures for replacing a lost or stolen identity card, a representative at the Canadian immigration office in Beijing stated that if a PRC citizen loses an [identification] ID card, they will go to their local police substation that is responsible for issuing the Family Registration Booklets (‘hukou’) and ID cards. The police substation is responsible for registering all people (foreigners too) that are living in their jurisdiction, including temporary residents. If one moves, then one is required to register the change of address. As a result, when a PRC citizen loses an ID card, they have to pay a nominal handling fee, and bring a couple of photos along for a re-issuance (the records of the citizen’s hukou and previous ID applications will all be kept there). A person doesn’t have to come in themselves with the photo, a relative may come in their place. A new ID card should have the new date of issue, with a new period of validity from that new issuance date.” [3ab]

6.243 As reported by the official People’s Daily newspaper on 21 August 2004, China has started to implement its own “Green Card” system, which according to the newspaper will allow foreigners to apply for permanent residence in China. [12w]"

Document(s): Open document

10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

Country Assessment - October 2003 - ID-Documents and Freedom of Movement ("Country Report - October 2003") [#49232],  [ID 3607]

"Current Situation

6.190. On 28 June 2003 National People's Congress (NPC) passed the National ID Law, authorising the phased introduction of a new microchip-based ID card to replace the existing plastic card (see below, Citizen Identity Card). Tests will begin in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Huzhou City in early 2004. The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) will oversee the introduction of the new card. It hopes to issue 900 million cards by the end of 2006. [14j.][14k.]

6.191. There are no plans to include biometrics (fingerprints) on the new card, however officials have hinted that this information could be added at some point in the future. [14j.][14k.]

6.192. On 13 August 2003, the China Daily newspaper reported that the PRC was to introduce ID cards to citizens below the age of 16. [9gan.]

Registration Card (hukou)

6.193. The "iron rice bowl" work unit system has, since the 1950s, provided a means by which the CCP has controlled and restricted the Chinese population. Under the system, individuals are issued with a registration card (hukou), which records permission to work and reside in an area. It also allows them to access various benefits. [3a]

6.194. Another factor in the control system is the work unit (danwei), which is attached to every state enterprise or collective (including schools, factories, research institutes and offices). The CCP officials of the danwei control access to tickets for out of town travel, authorisation for passports, marriages and the allocation state-insured benefits. [3a]

6.194. The need for a supplemental work force in the areas of fastest economic growth has led to tolerance of a large “floating population” that is not in compliance with formal requirements to obtain permission to change residence. Since this population lacks legal status, access to housing, schooling and the full range of employment opportunities is restricted. National and regional authorities have been encouraged to regulate and manage the transient population. [2a][2c][7h]

6.196. Nevertheless, booming coastal cities have attracted a "floating" population of 80-130 million, and private firms and foreign joint ventures have drawn over four million workers from state-run enterprises. The floating population includes many unskilled rural workers, and a growing number of middle-class professionals. Some cities, such as Beijing, are beginning to offer social services free of charge. In August 1998, the PSB issued revised regulations that allow persons from the countryside to apply for permanent residence in a city. [2d]

6.197. The Western (Gregorian) calendar has been in use in official documents since 1911. In the main the Chinese calendar is used for unofficial and popular purposes. There are a number of instruments for conversion between the two, such as The Book of Calendars and a number of online conversion sites. It is unlikely that official documents such as identity cards will cite dates by the Chinese calendar and not the Western calendar. [3ai]

Hukou Conversion

6.198. The process of conversion from agricultural to non-agricultural hukou is known as nongzhuanfei and is highly sought after, and exemplifies a major "class" rift in modern Chinese mainland society. [11e]

6.199. The hukou comprises two components: a residential location and a socio-economic eligibility factor. Place of registration (hukou suozaidi) is limited to one place only, dividing into different urban / rural place categories. The urban / rural divide is furthered by the 'status' of the hukou (hukou leibie). Until 1998, hukou residency was inherited from a person's mother: now hukou inheritance can be from either parent. [11e]

6.200. The hukou is unlikely to be granted to minors. The only circumstance in which a minor would hold their own hukou would be if they had established their own household [3ab]

Hukou Reform

6.201. Nongzhuanfei is regulated by two means: "policy" (zhengce) and "quota" (zhibiano). The latter is a straightforward regulator by numbers; the former refers to the conditions that an applicant must achieve to be qualified for change of status. There are two further considerations: a "regular" channel, usually through promotion or special skills development at work, all fitting into state productivity plans; and a "special" channel, a flexible measure for the state originally reserved for unusual cases and contingencies, with overtones of an honours system. [11e]

6.202. Since the late 1970s, the "special" category of nongzhuanfei has been relaxed to cover all sorts of contingencies. They have included rehabilitating purged cadres and intellectuals in the late 1970s, reintegrating young people sent to the country in the Cultural Revolution and spouse-inclusion programmes for skilled and professional workers. [11e]

6.203. Reform began in the late 1970s, and the past two decades have seen the hukou's decline in effectiveness and application. The main issues are discussed by the source, summarised below. [11e]

Temporary Residence Certificate

6.204. Originally started in Wuhan in 1993, a nationwide version in urban areas appeared in 1985. The TRC (jizhu zheng or zanzhu zheng) originally was issued to temporary workers over 16 years who were intending to stay in urban areas outside their hukou residence for over three months. This has since changed to one month, valid for a year's residence and renewable annually. [11e]

6.205. The main recipients of TRC's are casual urban labourers who migrate from the countryside to find work in China's booming coastal cities. In 1995, 44 million out of a 'floating population' of 80 million were registered with a TRC. The TRC does not confer full urban hukou benefits to the holder. [11e]

Citizen Identity Card

6.206. The photo identity card (IDC) was introduced across the PRC in 1985 and is administered by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). The authorities regard the individual identity card (jumin shenfenzheng) as a superior means of social control. [11e]

6.207. In 2001 the government announced plans to assign individual identification numbers to all of its citizens [4br], though there is no conclusive evidence to say whether this has yet been achieved. There is held to be a burgeoning market in counterfeit identity cards [4br] however in 1998 the Canadian IRB obtained information on five tests of authenticity that could be applied to ID cards. These were: -

The rounded corners of the paper card are machine cut
The laminate does not contain any design separate from the paper card itself
The edges of the paper card should be perfectly straight
The Chinese characters on the back of the card should be perfectly horizontal
The coloured design on both sides should go right to the edge of the card
[3be]

6.208. The MPS aim to issue all holders of current the photo identity card (IDC) with a new “second generation” microchip-based ID card by the end on 2006. (See above, Current Situation) [14j.][14k.]

Residency Permits

6.209. Information on Changle residence permits, and the meaning of the fifteen-digit serial number, was posted on the IRB website on 24 February 2000. The IDC comprises of a control code, a registered regular address and a stamp endorsed by the police unit local to the registered address. [3y]

6.210. IDCs are held to have a greater degree of integrity as they are not as easily counterfeited as letters of introduction or hukou booklets (both of which may be purchased illegally). [11e]

Employment Records

6.211. Further control of individuals is exercised through employment documentation: specifically through the individual's work unit (danwei), which keeps employment history records in a personal archive called a dangan. The dangan can be referred to, annotated and added to by Party chiefs, but is not open to the individual. Until recently, the dangan was instrumental in controlling the lives of most China's urban population. However the system has diminished in importance with the decline of the State Owned Enterprises (SOE's). [3bf]
[...]
Households with "self-supplied food grain" in towns

6.A.204. Another development emerging in the 1980s was the granting of a hukou if the applicant could show that they would not call upon community resources. This type of hukou died out in the early 1990s as new opportunities for "urban" hukou started to emerge. [11e]

Sales of hukou and "blue seal" status

6.A.205. Sales of urban hukou by local authorities by the late 1980s were disapproved of by central government, but unstoppable. The "blue seal" status (also known as "blue chop" or "blue stamp") introduced in 1992 regularised inward payments to the local authorities, conferring a new urban status to those who could pay by any of a number of means. It was called "blue seal" as it was distinguished from the non-agricultural hukou's red endorsing stamp with a blue stamp. [11e]

6.A.206. The actual benefits of the blue seal hukou depend on the local government, and not central government. There is a market-related pricing for blue-seal hukou, with different cities and even districts of cities charging "urban infrastructural construction" (chengshi zengrongfei). This commodification of the hukou has prompted cities such as Shanghai to view blue seal holders as "provisional" or "preparatory" citizens, open to apply for full urban hukou status in time. [11e]

6.A.207. The one effect of such commodification has been the reduction of actual bribery of officials as a means of securing and changing status. Central government has been against such developments but increasingly has been ignored as the revenue base of local government has broadened through hukou sales. [11e]

Hukou reform in market towns

6.A.208. Pilots are currently underway to regularise "stable" workers i.e. those with regular non-agricultural work / living support as a small town urban hukou, after a two year residency period. Unlike blue-seal hukou, there would be no fee involved. Little information has emerged about the pilots, but they may be viewed by local government as a direct competitor with blue-seal status. [11e]

6.A.209. The academic source concludes that the new distinctions of hukou have added further complexities to PRC social stratification. Social movement has mirrored flexibility for individuals to move around the country. The state is reluctant to drop the hukou system as a tool of political control, but has had to adapt as it embraces economic reforms. The two aspects of the hukou system, registering residency and determining status, may be easily dissevered if the system becomes politically obsolete. [11e] Some newspaper reports have misunderstood and misreported these elaxations as a "scrap(ping) of a decades-old system". [9fk]

The Floating Population

6.A.210. One expert source has recently put the "floating population" (liudong renkou) of internal migrant workers as having seriously undermined the command economy on which the PRC is based. The source looks closely at the hukou system (of household unit registration) as a means of understanding the flow of internal migrants. [5a]

6.A.211. Figures of official residence changes, by hukou, in PRC were running at 18.5 million changes per annum in 1995. Unofficial estimates put the migrant workforce in 1995 at 80-100 million. [5a]

6.A.212. The mid-1990s data has, however, provided two profiles of hukou and non-hukou migrants. Hukou migrants are typically either well-educated professionals moving for career purposes, or farm / industrial workers sanctioned to move often for marriage in a rural to rural migration. Hukou migrants comprised, in 1995, 53% of the officially recognised migrant workforce (and about 15% of estimated rural migrant labour.) Non-hukou migrants were typically less well-educated, 'self-employed' farm or industrial workers moving from rural areas to major cities and export processing centres. Few migrants of any kind are over the age of 40. [5a]

6.A.213. The annual mobility rate has been estimated by the source to be circa 4 percent of total population per annum in1995 (two-thirds of Western European countries). The criteria for registering a change excludes many minor movements, namely changes of less than 1 years' residence elsewhere, and hides the fluidity of the workforce as it follows seasonal patterns. Only the beginning of the phenomenon, the years 1980-95, have so far yielded data in terms of official figures. The debate amongst commentators as to how much of the migratory phenomenon is permanent resettlement continues. [5a][5c]

6.A.214. In August 2001, there were news reports that the PRC is planning to ditch the Hukou, the residency permit system, within the next five years. Alternative registration is proposed by the State Development Planning Commission, based on a scheme of employment registration. [9ct]

6.A.215. The move has apparently been in response to the possible effect of China's entry into the WTO. Entering the global market will demand further flexibility of the workforce to relocate, with 50 million of the current 150 million rural unemployed moving to urban areas in the next five years. The Hukou system is held to be an obstacle to a more sophisticated labour force, but its demise will be unpopular with resident urban populations. [9ct]"

Document(s): Open document