Why are farmers still holding back after the household registration reform took effect?

■The urban-rural two-tier household registration system has in fact already become embedded in land, employment, social security and other systems. Actively and steadily advancing a series of linked supporting reforms is the only way to deepen the household registration reform.

Recently, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Further Promoting Household Registration System Reform," deciding to establish a unified urban-rural household registration system and effectively safeguard the lawful rights and interests of the agricultural population that has moved to cities. For the vast number of migrant workers longing to truly integrate into city life, this is undoubtedly major good news.

My cousin has worked for years in Yiwu, Zhejiang, while his children are left behind in his rural hometown in Jiangxi and the elderly are left alone at home. He longs very much to settle down and live happily in the city. I called him and told him to ask the local authorities when the whole family could apply for permanent residency, but he clearly said there was no rush and that he would wait a while before deciding.

After a detailed conversation, I found that my cousin's decision was quite reasonable, and I also deeply felt that advancing the household registration reform still requires the coordinated advancement of a series of supporting reforms.

The first reason my cousin is in no hurry to obtain urban residency is that he wants to wait for land rights confirmation and certification. "There is land back home. Even if I can no longer make it in the city, I still have the capital to return to and make a living." The financial storm of 2008 made my cousin even more deeply aware of the importance of land.

My cousin's view of land also represents the attitude of most farmers. A survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences showed that 90 percent of respondents were unwilling to give up land in exchange for urban household registration. It seems that for the household registration system reform to advance smoothly, breakthroughs in rural land system reform should be achieved as soon as possible. Confirming and certifying rights helps reassure farmers, grants farmers rights to possess, use and benefit from contracted land, and prudently and steadily exploring channels to increase farmers' property income is the top priority in supporting reforms for the household registration system. If land system reform stagnates, farmers' worries will not be resolved, and the pace of urbanization will be dragged down.

Another reason my cousin is in no hurry is that he wants to see how substantial an urban household registration really is. If it is just exchanging one household registration booklet for another and basic public services remain the same as before, then what is the point?

For a long time, China's urban-rural two-tier household registration management system once created more than 30 differences in treatment between urban and rural household registration. Eliminating these differences and achieving equal access to basic public services is another key point in deepening supporting reforms to the household registration system, and the task is arduous and long.

To meet the needs of granting urban status to the agricultural population that has moved to cities, local governments need to increase fiscal input in a series of areas, including urban infrastructure construction and maintenance, public service management, social security and affordable housing. This is the greatest pressure that household registration reform brings to local governments, and it is also an important reason why the process of granting urban status to migrant workers has been relatively slow in recent years. In response to this problem, the "Opinions" proposed strengthening fiscal guarantees for basic public services and establishing a mechanism linking fiscal transfer payments with the granting of urban status to the agricultural population that has moved to cities. At the same time, it put forward practical yet proactive response methods such as "giving priority to solving the existing stock, guiding the increment in an orderly manner, and reasonably guiding expectations."

In reality, bridging the gap in rights and welfare between different urban and rural household registrations is indeed not something that can be achieved overnight. But abolishing the agricultural household registration in practice opens the curtain on an "era of equal urban-rural rights." The direction has been set, and success depends on human effort. Gradually weakening or stripping away the welfare benefits attached to household registration, further increasing fiscal transfer payments, narrowing development gaps between regions, between cities of different sizes, and between urban and rural areas, and especially giving migrant workers equal treatment in the same city, are the focus of the next step in deepening reform.

The urban-rural two-tier household registration system has in fact already become embedded in land, employment, social security and other systems, so deepening reform is not easy. But reform is the greatest dividend. Actively and steadily advancing a series of linked supporting reforms is the only way to deepen the household registration reform, and it will also provide strong momentum for stabilizing growth, adjusting the structure and benefiting people's livelihood.