An article (in Chinese) of Ming Pao Daily News dated 15.04.19 reports on the impact of a new National Development Reform Commission 國家發改委 directive "2019 Priorities for the Development of New Urbanization" 《2019年新型城鎮化建設重點任務》. The article highlights a robust transformation of the "hukou" household registration system which deprives rural migrants of essential social benefits incluidng housing, medical care and education.
The new directive mandates the stricture's total abolition for towns and cities with up to 3 million inhabitants. Those with 3-5 million population will also need to comprehensively relax restrictions. The liberalization is dedicated to achieving the target of enabling 100 million migrants to gain urban citizenship by year end.
Larger cities benefiting from this liberalization policy comprise 13 cities such as Xian, Tsingdao, Dalian, Xiamen, Suzhou, Ningbo and a host of 65 others such as Fuzhou, Nanchang, Zhuhai, Foshan, Haikou and Changzhou. Many city beneficiaries are situated in the Greater Bay Area.
Regardless of this policy, the GBA has become a magnet for the flow of human capital across the country. In recent years, about a million new immigrants choose to settle in the Pearl River Delta annually, resulting in 1.48 million additional urban jobs while unemployment registers on average only 2.41%. Rather than a burden, this migrant flow has been generating a demographic dividend for productivity growth.
According to the article, this tallies with keen competition between dynamic cities for human capital. Many cities including those in the Greater Bay Area have launched incentives to attract human talent.
If the overall target of 100 million new urban citizens by year end is realized, it is set to have a transformative impact on the country's vitality, not least in the Greater Bay Area.
Download Ming Pao 15.04.19 - GBA rivalry for human capital changes Hukou game (2 pages) (in Chinese)
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