The reform of converting agricultural household registration to residential registration should give farmers a sense of gain.

As Beijing announces the start of "converting agricultural household registration to residential registration," 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across the country have declared the abolition of the distinction between agricultural and non-agricultural household registration, unifying registration as residential household registration. This means the dual household registration system is about to exit the stage of history, with far-reaching significance.

The sharp distinction between agricultural and non-agricultural household registration, the dualized economic and social development of urban and rural areas, and the difficult-to-bridge urban-rural gap have greatly harmed farmers' rights. Accelerating household registration system reform and fully implementing the "conversion of agricultural household registration to residential registration" will mean that farmer is no longer an identity label but merely an occupational title. Its historical significance and political impact are far-reaching, and it will surely help break the urban-rural dual structure so that urban and rural residents can equally share the fruits of modernization. Specifically, after the abolition of agricultural household registration, it will be difficult to treat various social welfare distributions differently on the basis of urban-rural household registration differences; after small and medium-sized cities relax household registration restrictions, the pace of urbanization reform will inevitably accelerate, and freedom of migration will also have greater guarantees; the rural property rights system will become more complete, and a brand-new beautiful countryside can be anticipated.

To break the dual structure, equal rights between urban and rural areas is the first principle. "Converting agricultural household registration to residential registration" is by no means merely a change of title, nor merely changing a paper agricultural household registration into a residential household registration. It should also enable the new citizens of "converting agricultural household registration to residential registration" to enjoy the various benefits attached to an urban household registration booklet, continuously improve rural services and safeguards in education, medical care, employment, elderly care and other areas, and give farmers a sense of gain in the process of "converting agricultural household registration to residential registration."

At the same time, we should also be vigilant that "converting agricultural household registration to residential registration" cannot do away with farmers' lawful rights and interests. The first reaction of many farming households to the abolition of agricultural household registration is: are they going to touch my land? We must resolutely prevent any phenomenon of infringing on farmers' lawful rights by taking advantage of the abolition of agricultural household registration. In particular, we must be vigilant against forcibly bundling "land for social security" into "abolishing agricultural household registration" and forcing farmers to withdraw from contracted land and homestead land. If "converting agricultural household registration to residential registration" is used to stealthily substitute one thing for another and infringes on farmers' land property rights and interests, it may cause a large number of landless farmers to move into cities, endangering the good momentum of stable economic and social development, with the gains not worth the losses.

Of course, we should also encourage the new generation of migrant workers to move into cities and encourage them to withdraw from contracted land with compensation, but this is by no means an excuse for coercion and commandism. Farmers' withdrawal from contracted land and homestead land must be voluntary and must be compensated. Every farmer unwilling to give up land must be treated with patience, and we must be able to wait.

Household registration management that restricts mobility and divides urban and rural areas is already outdated, and abolishing agricultural household registration comes at exactly the right time. However, behind household registration system reform lies complex adjustment of interests, and "converting agricultural household registration to residential registration" cannot accomplish urbanization in one stroke. The urban-rural gap cannot be filled in an instant, and urbanization is by no means the work of a single day.

We may as well take this as an opportunity to focus on improving rural education, medical care, social security, agricultural subsidies and other systems, gradually eliminate the gap between the levels of various welfare benefits in weak rural areas and those of urban residents, strive to raise the level of equalization of basic public services, and promote better and faster urbanization that coordinates the interests of farmers and urban residents.