Beijing on Thursday released two draft regulations that use a points system to allow people who have worked and lived in Beijing for years to obtain a permanent residential permit, a long-coveted status that will ensure cheaper education and better access to expensive resources.
If the new rules are approved, the scheme will theoretically give everyone who has lived in Beijing long enough an equal chance to get the much desired hukou, or household registration.
This would put an end to the existing system, in which mainly employees of government agencies or State-owned enterprises can apply according to an annual quota.
However, analysts said that the drafts, released three days after the city unveiled its 13th Five-Year Plan (2015-20) that vows to limit the population to under 23 million, are actually designed to ensure population control and "optimize" population structure at a time when the capital city is struggling with congestion and shortages of water and other resources.
The draft, released by the Beijing government on its official website, states that people from outside Beijing can apply for a permanent hukou if they are under 45, have made social security contributions for at least seven years, meet family planning policy regulations and have no criminal record in Beijing.
The drafts said that this is an effort to bring convenience to residents in Beijing who come from outside the city, protect their interests, promote the "harmonious development" of population, resources, environment, economy and society.
There has been public outcry online, with many people commenting that the threshold is too high, as many of the points are difficult to obtain. Shanghai and Guangzhou have already adopted a points-based system. According to the experience of Shanghai and Guangzhou, implementing the points-based system won’t lead to more people hurtling into Beijing, as the standard in Beijing is even higher.
