China to accelerate household registration system reforms

As part of its urbanisation push, China will accelerate the reforms of its "hukou" system, or household registration system, to help farmers become urban residents, the Communist Party of China (CPC) said Friday in a landmark policy document.

The lengthy policy document -- officially named 'A decision on major issues concerning comprehensive and far-reaching reforms' -- was approved in the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, a four-day key meeting that ended here Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

The country will relax overall control over farmers settling in towns and small cities, and relax restrictions on settling in medium-sized cities in an orderly manner, the document showed.

China would set reasonable requirements for rural residents to obtain hukou in large cities, and strictly control the size of population in megacities.

The document also said efforts should be made to make basic urban public services available for all permanent residents in cities and include all rural residents into the affordable housing system and the social security network.

Household registration reform is part of the improvement in the mechanisms for healthy urbanisation, as China builds a new type of urbanisation that puts people at the centre.