The attraction of small and medium-sized cities is the key to differential settlement

A few days ago, the State Council issued the "opinions on further promoting the Reform of the Household Registration system" (hereinafter referred to as "opinions"), which is a programmatic document guiding the reform of the household registration system at present and for a period of time in the future. The "opinion" clearly points out that it is necessary to take the path of differential settlement, comprehensively liberalize the restrictions on settlement in established towns and small cities, relax restrictions on settlement in medium-sized cities in an orderly manner, reasonably determine the conditions for settling in large cities, and strictly control the population size of mega-cities. The author believes that in order to implement the differential settlement policy, one of the primary prerequisites is to increase the attractiveness of small and medium-sized cities. only in this way can a large number of agricultural migrants be attracted to settle in small and medium-sized cities.

Judging from the current situation, the attractiveness of hukou in small and medium-sized cities in China is not very strong. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the development of small and medium-sized cities is not up to the desired standard, and at the same time, due to the state's attention and investment in agriculture, rural areas and farmers for many years, the "gold content" of agricultural hukou is increasing. for example, farmers' old-age and medical insurance are gradually merging with the cities, plus the farmers' contracted cultivated land, the use of homestead and the right to distribute collective income. Under such circumstances, in order to attract agricultural migrants to settle in small and medium-sized cities, small and medium-sized cities need to be attractive enough. On the other hand, although a large number of migrant workers are concentrated in mega-cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, about 50% of migrant workers still live and work in small and medium-sized cities. In this way, whether it is to solve the household registration problem of these migrant workers nearby, or to further guide migrant workers from other cities to settle down, we also need to enhance the attractiveness of small and medium-sized cities.

Good traffic is the basic condition to enhance the attractiveness of small and medium-sized cities. There are many gaps between big cities and small cities in China, in which traffic conditions are not only an important gap, but also the basis to solve other gaps. Because only when the traffic conditions are improved, can we attract industrial agglomeration, and at the same time have a good traffic condition, it will also make the settled migrant workers visit relatives or go out to work from the new place of household registration to their "hometown" in the future. the journey is not too remote and inconvenient. According to the requirements of the country's new urbanization plan, by 2020, the ordinary railway network should cover cities with a population of more than 200000, the rapid railway network should basically cover cities with a population of more than 500000, and ordinary national highways should basically cover county seats. national highways basically cover cities with more than 200000 people. The population size of small and medium-sized cities in China is less than 1 million, and the standards designed by urbanization planning should cover small and medium-sized cities.

The formed industrial foundation is the survival cornerstone to attract agricultural migrant population to settle down. Years of practice has proved that migrant workers go to the city to work, do business, stable employment is the foundation of their gradual integration into the city. Great efforts should be made to develop the tertiary industry, small and medium-sized enterprises and labor-intensive industries with large employment capacity for migrant workers. It is necessary to encourage and guide the layout of industrial projects in small and medium-sized cities with strong carrying capacity of resources and environment and great potential for development, and develop characteristic industries. The central government pointed out that "it is necessary to enhance the industrial undertaking capacity of small and medium-sized cities, especially to increase the proportion of the service industry." In terms of industrial distribution, at present, the employment of migrant workers in China is mainly concentrated in manufacturing, construction and service industries, in which the proportion of services is gradually increasing in recent years. Take the family service industry as an example. At present, the number of employees in the family service industry in China has reached 20 million, which is 30 million capacity according to 15% of the household demand, and there is still room for 10 million development. On the other hand, 30% of the households in the world usually have a demand for the service industry. according to this calculation, China's family service industry still has a lot of room for growth in the future.

To enhance the attractiveness of small and medium-sized cities, we should also vigorously strengthen the construction of municipal infrastructure and public service facilities in small and medium-sized cities. It is necessary to strengthen the allocation of municipal infrastructure in small and medium-sized cities, such as public water supply, sewage treatment, garbage treatment, gas supply, and so on, and strengthen the allocation of education, medical care, and other public resources in small and medium-sized cities, these resources should be tilted to small and medium-sized cities and county towns, it is necessary to guide the layout of higher vocational education institutions in small and medium-sized cities, and high-quality education and medical institutions to set up branches in small and medium-sized cities. At the same time, it is also necessary to cultivate the cultural attractiveness of small and medium-sized cities, gradually build relatively perfect cultural consumption infrastructure, support the construction of museums and libraries, build concert halls and theatres, and encourage cinema lines to be set up in small and medium-sized cities. expand the total number of cinemas and screens, so that small and medium-sized cities can gradually become livable on the basis of suitable industry.

By the end of June this year, the number of migrant workers in China has reached 174 million. As of 2010, there are 518 small and medium-sized cities (with a population of less than 1 million) in China, while there are 140 big cities and mega-cities in the same period. These 518 small and medium-sized cities will be the main areas for agricultural migrant population to settle in the coming period of time. The reform of the household registration system is a very complex and huge project, there are many supporting work for it, and one of the key points is to enhance the attractiveness of small and medium-sized cities. Only when the small and medium-sized cities have enough attractiveness, comfort and happiness, can the agricultural transfer population choose to settle voluntarily, realize the rational distribution of large, medium and small cities and small towns, and guide the population distribution reasonably. in order to achieve the agricultural transfer population employment-driven, living suitable for the gradual settlement goal.