In the process of urbanisation, what are farmers worried about happening to their land?
“I am just about to move my son's household registration from the county town back to the village.” Chen Xing'an, the same age as the People's Republic, was a famous production team leader in the whole county during the “big pot” era, and after reform and opening up became one of the first “ten-thousand-yuan households”. Although he now lives in the city, whenever there is a major decision in the township, they still ask him to come forward.
Chen Xing'an seems to be going somewhat against the tide. The State Council recently issued the “Opinions on Further Advancing the Reform of the Household Registration System” (hereinafter referred to as the “Opinions”), pointing out that the distinction between agricultural household registration and non-agricultural household registration, and the household registration types derived from it such as blue-seal household registration, shall be abolished, and all shall be uniformly registered as resident household registration, and a unified urban-rural household registration system shall be established.
Regarding the “abolition of agricultural and non-agricultural household registration” and “transferring 100 million rural people to settle in cities and towns” proposed in the “Opinions”, Chen Xing'an said that this had long been anticipated.
In fact, the reform of the household registration system has always been a hot topic of sustained public attention in recent years, and as soon as the “Opinions” were issued, they triggered explosive dissemination of public opinion. From the distribution of public opinion viewpoints, this round of attention focused mainly on two aspects: first, whether a series of supporting systems compatible with a unified urban-rural household registration system, such as education, health, employment, social security, housing and land, can keep up; second, when household registration reform intersects with land issues, how to guarantee farmers' land contractual management rights, homestead use rights and rights to distribution of collective returns.
What are the benefits of moving into the city
Implementing a unified urban-rural household registration system requires not only grasping the fairness bottom line of striving for the same name, same destiny and same price, but also establishing a series of supporting systems compatible with a unified urban-rural household registration system, such as education, health, employment, social security, housing and land
“In the 1990s, the government already transferred a batch of rural people. In 1993, 6,000 yuan could buy a county town household registration; that 6,000 at the time was equivalent to 60,000 now, but after buying it, there were no benefits either.” Hu Meizhen, who has lived in Shanghai for more than ten years and comes from Shandong, told the International Finance News reporter, “Now some relatives back home ask me whether they should settle in the city, and I hope they first weigh clearly what benefits settling in the city actually brings.”
Why move household registration from the countryside to the city? In other words, what benefits can settling in a city or town actually enjoy? Compulsory education resources and pension welfare are two rights that residents generally value. With the current household registration reform, can settling in cities and towns fully enjoy these two resources? The International Finance News reporter tried to find answers from the actual operation of nationwide pilot projects.
According to a report by Zhejiang Current Affairs, Wu Qingjie, deputy head of the Household Registration Basic Management Brigade of the Pingyang County Public Security Bureau, who participated in the entire Pingyang household registration reform process, said that Pingyang County's economic and social development level is at a medium level in Zhejiang Province, so its experience and model are easy to replicate.
“In the household registration reform, what villagers expect most is educational opportunity.” Lin Xuesheng, head of the General Education Section of the Pingyang County Education Bureau, explained, “Compulsory education resources first satisfy school-district students with household registration, and only when there are surplus resources are coordinated students admitted. After the household registration reform, the household registration threshold is lower, and the possibility of students entering quality schools has increased.”
As for social security benefits such as pensions, because changes to the social insurance system require policy support at the national level and a single pilot city has no authority to change them, the progress of reforms related to social security in Pingyang County's pilot work is not aimed at migrant workers. The person in charge of the Pension Insurance Management Center of the Pingyang County Human Resources and Social Security Bureau introduced, “In the past, after the death of staff of government agencies and public institutions and employees of state-owned collective enterprises, the living allowance standards issued to their surviving dependants were higher for non-agricultural household registration than for agricultural household registration; after the household registration reform, surviving dependants with Pingyang household registration will all be handled uniformly according to non-agricultural population standards.”
Apart from Pingyang County, before the State Council document was promulgated, 13 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government - Hebei, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Yunnan - had successively abolished the dual division of agricultural household registration and non-agricultural household registration, uniformly calling them resident household registration. What rights and interests did these early areas provide to farmers?
Ren Yuan, director of the National Policy Research Center of Fudan University, told the International Finance News reporter, “Pilot cities or regions certainly have experience worth learning from, but reform is a process of trial and error. For example, Zhengzhou failed and could not continue; Nanjing had no supporting measures; although Chongqing emphasised the compatibility of reform, it neglected farmers' wishes.”
Although the pilot cities did not give a clear answer to “what are the benefits of the process”, the Ministry of Public Security has stated that farmers need not worry about “being urbanised”, because the “100 million” target is not a mandatory requirement but a goal. Huang Ming, Vice Minister of Public Security, stressed at a special press conference of the State Council Information Office, “The reform of the household registration system must be both proactive and prudent, and even more solid; it must not be impatient or rash, and must be done according to capacity, preventing unrealistic action and rushing headlong into it”, and “putting people first and respecting the wishes of the masses means that, as we often say, whether farmer masses want to enter the city, when they want to enter the city, and which city they want to enter must be chosen by themselves. We should not adopt coercive methods, and should not ‘pull in’ farmers or have them ‘forcibly registered as residents’.”
What about employment and housing
The target for population transferred from agriculture in the household registration system reform from 2014 to 2020 is 100 million. The government is precisely taking the 174 million outbound migrant workers as the main body transferred from rural areas to settle in cities. And the cities where they settle are mainly focused on cities with a population of less than 1 million
From the reform document, the population focus of this transfer is migrant workers who have already gone out, the focus of absorbing cities is cities with a population of less than 1 million, and the focus of absorbing enterprises is small and medium-sized enterprises.
Regarding the basic situation of China's migrant workers at present, Yang Zhiming, Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, introduced at a press conference of the State Council Information Office that by the end of 2013 the total number of migrant workers nationwide was 269 million, of which 166 million were outbound migrant workers. As of the end of June this year, outbound migrant workers had reached 174 million, “migrant workers are the main body of the population transferred from agriculture, and it can also be said that migrant workers are a new type of labour force that has grown up along with the rapid development of industrialisation and urbanisation since China's reform and opening up”.
And the target for population transferred from agriculture in the household registration system reform from 2014 to 2020 is 100 million. The government is precisely taking the 174 million outbound migrant workers as the main body transferred from rural areas to settle in cities. And the cities where they settle are mainly focused on cities with a population of less than 1 million.
“Employment-driven, retaining land rights, gradual settlement” - these are the notable features of the path of agricultural labour transfer with Chinese characteristics emphasised by Yang Zhiming. “Farmers are the most pragmatic. Whatever title you give them - rural household registration, urban household registration, or citizen household registration - farmers will not quibble much with you. The key is land, housing and work. If these are not guaranteed, farmers will create major trouble.”
Chen Xing'an, who comes from a farming background, repeatedly stressed to the reporter the pragmatism of farmers, “there must be solid, real benefits”, and “if settling in the city, employment is naturally first. If farmers are dissatisfied with city work, or still do not feel secure, farmers naturally are unwilling to stay in the city, let alone settle there”.
Dang Guoying, a researcher at the Institute of Rural Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, also told the reporter, “In fact, if employment is not well solved, cities will not allow or welcome such farmers to settle in cities either.” Li Pumin, Secretary-General of the National Development and Reform Commission, also said, “Only with industry can employment in small and medium-sized cities be stabilised and expanded, and only then can small and medium-sized cities be attractive.”
So what measures can farmers expect the government to take to promote their stable employment and settlement in cities? Yang Zhiming, Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, introduced at the State Council Information Office press conference that the main measures are in 3 aspects: industrial development, skills training, and nationwide networking. Yang Zhiming took skills training as the primary measure, training 20 million people each year, while for industry, “the tertiary industry, small and medium-sized enterprises and labour-intensive industries” naturally become the focus.
Yang Zhiming stressed, “Small and medium-sized enterprises are the main channel for migrant worker employment; with small ones, development is lively; with small ones, income grows quickly; with small ones, employment is greater.” It is no wonder that since China's new government took office, the central government has issued multiple documents and measures, with support for small and medium-sized enterprises clearly stronger than in previous years.