Hukou
The Hukou system ( Chinese 戶口 制度 / 户口 制度 , Pinyin hùkǒu zhìdù - "system of permanent residence control"), also known as the Huji system ( 戶籍 制度 / 户籍 制度 , hùjí zhìdù - "civil status system "), is the official residence control of the population of the People's Republic of China . There are also the Hukou books ( 戶口 登記 本 / 户口 登记 本 , hùkǒu dēngjìběn - "family notebook "), which every family in the People's Republic owns and in which all important events such as B. birth, wedding or similar. are to be entered.
Similar registration systems also exist in Taiwan , which is also called Hukou ( 戶口 / 户口 , hùkǒu - "registered permanent residence") or Huji ( 戶籍 / 户籍 , hùjí - "civil status "), as well as in other East Asian countries:
translation
The direct translation into the dictionary is “registered permanent residence” or “number of households and the total population”, but this does not include the meaning as a system. Sebastian Heilmann uses in his book "The Political System of the People's Republic of China" the translations "System of State Household Registration" and "Residence Control".
- See also: People's Republic of China # Migration
Mao era
In the post-1948 Mao era, strict residence controls and enforced immobility of the population were central to the control and regulation of the population. Staying at the assigned place of residence was a prerequisite for any type of employment and the allocation of food and other important consumer goods.
Current situation
After the reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping from 1979 onwards, it was made easier for citizens to move unofficially. These reforms have also created incentives to relocate to the more rapidly developing coastal regions.
Although most of the population is still officially tied to their assigned place, there are believed to be 150 to 200 million Chinese today who live as migrant workers in other places. For example, there are over three million people in Guangzhou who are not officially citizens of the city. These newcomers cannot register in their new place of residence due to their official ties to another location. As a result, they have less access to education and social services, among other things.
Effects
The Hukou system has meant that no larger slums have emerged in Chinese suburban regions, as the rural population in particular was prohibited from moving to cities. This rule has also contributed to the large social disparities between urban and rural areas, excluding rural populations from the privileges enjoyed by urban populations since the 1950s.
These privileges include, for example, free access to educational institutions such as schools and universities, social benefits and the use of rural health insurance. The latter only pays for treatments at home. The employer’s health insurance, which has been mandatory since 2008, is in fact canceled out for migrant workers, as they are usually employed without a contract.
This has created a class of unofficial citizens in the cities that is disadvantaged compared to the registered population. Due to the comparatively high dependency on their employers and the lower wages in their home country, they are also often exploited as cheap labor.
In the so-called PISA test, this system leads to a possible bias compared to other countries, as a considerable number of 15-year-olds are de facto not taken into account in the tests, as they have only limited access to educational institutions.
Reforms
From 1982 onwards, an " arrest and return " detention practice based on the hukou system was in effect. After that, the police were able to detain people without a residence permit or work permit in camps for months and pull them into heavy labor and then bring them back to their hometown. In 2003, after the death of the young fashion designer Sun Zhigang, violent protests broke out, and this regulation was lifted.
Although the hukou system is also seen as unfair in the People's Republic of China, reforms are still controversial. It is feared that reform will put great pressure on cities from masses of resettlers. This would mean that the already overburdened social systems in the cities could collapse and economic development in rural regions could be further slowed down by the departure of the local elites.
After a huge demand for labor in the booming urban agglomerations in the coastal regions, for the first time rural jobseekers were allowed to work in the cities in larger numbers, albeit temporarily. In some provinces the hukou system is already being reformed, such as in Guangdong . There are now a large number of residents in Guangzhou who are not originally from the city. Most of them are from other prefecture-level cities in Guangdong.
The urban region of Shenyang in northeast Liaoning , which also encompasses considerable rural areas, became the first major city to abolish the distinction between urban and rural hukou in early 2010, thereby giving the rural population access to better urban education, health care and social security.
In the city of Chongqing , between mid-2010 and the end of 2011, the rights of residents were extended to around 3 million migrants from the rural hinterland. Chengdu eliminated all differences between residents of the city and the rural area within its jurisdiction by the end of 2012. These reforms do not abolish the hukou , but extend the privileges to all residents of the region.
In January 2013, the new government announced that it would introduce a nationwide reform of the hukou system, through which "the majority of migrant workers should find a home and live well both in cities and in the countryside".
A reorganization of the system was presented at the end of July 2014 and is to be implemented by 2020. In municipalities and cities with fewer than one million inhabitants, registration as a citizen is released. Anyone who moves to these locations can register and use all municipal services. In cities with between one million and three million inhabitants, the requirements for new registrations are low, a transition period is intended to ensure that the administrations are not overwhelmed by eligible new citizens. In cities with between three and five million inhabitants, new registrations should be possible to an “appropriate” extent. More detailed information was not initially published. A points system will be introduced for the megacities Beijing and Shanghai ; Registrations are only accepted in a strictly regulated number; citizens must qualify according to length of employment, living conditions and social security.
Web links
- OECD: China in the World Economy: The Domestic Policy Challenges. Synthesis Report, 2002. pp. 9ff. (PDF file; 1300 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cindy C. Fan: China on the move. P. 1.
- ↑ Michaela Hemme: Sectoral economic structure as a brake on growth? An analysis for the People's Republic of China. Diploma thesis at the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg im Breisgau, 2008, p. 22ff.
- ↑ Attention OECD-PISA: Your Silence on China is Wrong , December 12, 2013
- ↑ Marco Pannella: China - imprisonment practice described as “Custody and repatriation” In: Official Journal of the European Communities . October 15, 1999.
- ↑ Li Li: The independence of the judiciary should be given priority . In: Bejing Rundschau. 2005.
- ↑ people.com.cn (Chinese)
- ^ Changing migration patterns - Welcome home . In: The Economist. February 25, 2012.
- ↑ Xinhua: China to advance household registration reforms ( Memento of the original from January 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 7, 2013.
- ↑ Xinhua: China Focus: Hukou reforms to help 100 mln Chinese ( Memento of the original from August 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , July 30, 2014.
