Source:

For more information please see chapter 'Land seizures/Forced Evictions' [ID 23275]

Document(s): Open document

11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

System of national household registration (hukou) underwent further change ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 23362]

"The system of national household registration (hukou) underwent further change during the year. Rural residents continued to migrate to the cities, where the per capita disposable income was more than quadruple the rural per capita income, but many could not officially change their residence or workplace within the country. Most cities had annual quotas for the number of new temporary residence permits that would be issued, and all workers, including university graduates, had to compete for a limited number of such permits. It was particularly difficult for peasants from rural areas to obtain household registration in more economically developed urban areas.
The household registration system added to the difficulties rural residents faced even after they relocated to urban areas and found employment. In March 2006 the National Bureau of Statistics estimated that there was a floating population of 147.35 million, nearly one-third of which moved between provinces. These economic migrants lacked official residence status in cities, and it was difficult or impossible for them to gain full access to social services, including education. Furthermore, law and society generally limited migrant workers to types of work considered least desirable by local residents, and such workers had little recourse when subjected to abuse by employers and officials. Some major cities maintained programs to provide migrant workers and their children access to public education and other social services free of charge, but migrants in some locations reported that it was difficult to qualify for these benefits in practice.
Many cities and provinces continued experiments aimed at further eroding the distinction between urban and rural residents in household registration documents. At the beginning of the year, the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone delinked the right to participate in the public pension system from workers' hukou status, allowing all workers who have lived in the zone for 15 years and contributed to the pension system to claim benefits"

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10.10.2007 - Source: Congressional-Executive Commission on China

Government continues to enforce the household registration (hukou) system; system limits the right of citizens to determine their permanent place of residence ("Annual Report 2007") [ID 21418]

"The Chinese government continues to enforce the household registration (hukou) system it first established in the 1950s. This system limits the right of Chinese citizens to determine their permanent place of residence. Regulations and policies that condition legal rights and access to social services on residency status have resulted in discrimination against rural hukou holders who migrate for work to urban areas. The hukou system exacerbates barriers that migrant workers and their families face in areas such as employment, healthcare, property rights, legal compensation, and schooling. [See Section II-- Worker Rights for more information.] Central and local government reforms from the past five years have mitigated some obstacles to equal treatment, but provisions that allow people to change hukou status have included criteria that advantage those with greater economic and educational resources or with family connections to urban hukou holders.1 The government's restrictions on residence and discrimination in equal treatment contravene international human rights standards,2 including those in treaties China has signed or ratified.3 In May 2005, the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights expressed ``deep concern'' over the discrimination resulting from ``inter alia, the restrictive national household registration system (hukou) which continues to be in place despite official announcements regarding reforms.''"

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06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Household registration system (hukou) underwent further change during the year ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 19148]

"The system of national household registration (hukou) underwent further change during the year, as the country accumulated a more mobile labor force. Rural residents continued to migrate to the cities, where the per capita disposable income was more than quadruple the rural per capita cash income. Nonetheless, many could not officially change their residence or workplace within the country. Government and work unit permission were often required before moving to a new city. Most cities had annual quotas for the number of new temporary residence permits that would be issued, and all workers, including university graduates, had to compete for a limited number of such permits. It was particularly difficult for peasants from rural areas to obtain household registration in economically more developed urban areas.

The household registration system added to the difficulties rural residents faced in changing to urban residency, even when they have already relocated to urban areas and found employment. 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. Furthermore, law and society generally limited migrant workers to types of work considered least desirable by local residents, and such workers had little recourse when subjected to abuse by employers and officials. Some major cities maintained programs to provide migrant workers and their children access to public education and other social services free of charge, but migrants in some locations reported that it is difficult to qualify for these benefits in practice. Many cities and provinces continued experiments aimed at abolishing the distinction between urban and rural residents in household registration documents."

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26.04.2006 - Source: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Response on the hukou (distinction between urban and rural hukou; social services available to persons holding an urban or rural hukou; temporary hukou; whether a person not registered in an urban area can obtain social services) ("The hukou; whether there remains a distinction between urban and rural hukou; social services available to persons holding an urban or rural hukou; the temporary hukou; and whether a person who is not registered in an urban area can obtain social services, including a hukou (2005 - 2006) [CHN101198.E]") [ID 21977]

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02.03.2006 - Source: BBC News

Agricultural land is owned communally, each village owns the land around it; people from the countryside hardly socially accepted in cities ("China's rural millions left behind") [#47485],  [ID 4461]

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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 4462]

Document(s): Open document
Open document

16.06.2005 - Source: BBC News

Shenyou: 6 people killed in clashes between local farmers and unknown men ("Bloody China riot caught on film") [#32893],  [ID 4464]

Document(s): Open document