The key to household registration system reform is the distribution of benefits

The State Council announced on the 30th "Opinions on Further Promoting the Reform of the Household Registration System," proposing the establishment of a unified household registration system for urban and rural areas. The Opinions clearly state that China will gradually abolish the distinction between agricultural and non-agricultural hukou and uniformly register them as resident hukou. This marks the implementation of more than half a century of "agriculture" and "non-agricultural" dual household registration management model will withdraw from the historical stage.

The reform of the household registration system is unprecedented. The Opinions will be a programmatic document guiding the reform of the national household registration system in the coming period. This reform also carries a specific task, that is, to strive to achieve about 100 million agricultural transfer population settled in cities and towns. The close relationship between the reform of the household registration system and urbanization can be seen from a policy "forecast" issued by relevant departments more than four months ago. In March this year, the "National New Urbanization Plan" was announced. The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Public Security said at that time that China's new urbanization construction was officially launched. As one of the supporting policies for new urbanization, the reform of the household registration system is expected to be introduced soon.

The reform of household registration system is a supporting policy for new urbanization, but the significance of reform is far more than "supporting" so simple. Since 1958,"People's Republic of China household registration regulations" formally implemented, China has gradually formed a dual society based on agricultural and non-agricultural household registration. Dual household registration system is the product of planned economy era, and has become an obstacle to economic and social development. Dual household registration hinders urban development and agricultural modernization, which is not conducive to the smooth urbanization of agricultural population. At the same time, strict household registration transfer regulations greatly limit the need for normal migration of citizens, which is widely criticized by society.

The dual household registration system is based on household registration, forming a labor employment and social protection system separated from urban and rural areas. The dual household registration system has brought huge differences in rights and security between urban and rural areas, and even evolved into a social tragedy of "the same life but different prices". According to relevant judicial interpretations, compensation is calculated mainly on the basis of per capita income of urban or rural residents. Therefore, in some criminal cases or accidents, the victims receive double or more compensation for disability or death due to different urban and rural household registration "origins".

Dualistic household registration management system attaches too many social management functions, from social protection to education, medical treatment, housing and other welfare benefits, often related to residents 'household registration. Household registration benefits are everywhere, household registration has lost its original appearance and become the carrier of social welfare treatment. To establish a unified household registration system in urban and rural areas, the difficulty of this reform is how to gradually strip off many social welfare linked to household registration and promote the equalization of public welfare. One of the goals of this household registration system reform is to realize the settlement of about 100 million agricultural transfer population and other permanent residents in cities and towns. At present, these 100 million people have basically worked and lived in cities and towns. If other economic and social supporting facilities fail to be effectively connected, only their household registration will be unified. Such household registration reform is meaningless and will not be accepted by the masses.

Whether the household registration reform can successfully achieve its goal depends on whether various supporting measures and social welfare can benefit the new settlers. The 100 million people who will settle in cities and towns need to enjoy various basic public services in local cities and towns, including employment services, basic old-age care, basic medical care, housing security and compulsory education for their children. The realization of equalization of public welfare is a necessary condition for the success of the reform of household registration system, and it is also a major redistribution of interests. The government's financial input is the main guarantee for realizing this benefit distribution.

The importance of the distribution of benefits in the reform of the household registration system is also reflected between large cities and small and medium-sized cities. In recent years, many small and medium-sized cities have actually liberalized the settlement policy, but the effect is not good, and they have not attracted enough rural migrants to settle down. The lack of attractiveness of small and medium-sized cities is caused by insufficient construction of municipal infrastructure and public service facilities. From foreign experience, many large enterprise headquarters and famous universities are distributed in small and medium-sized cities, because the relevant cities have good municipal infrastructure and excellent public resources such as education and medical care. China should break through some institutional barriers and tilt all kinds of high-quality resources to small and medium-sized cities. This kind of resource inclination is also the redistribution of interests, which will play an important role in promoting the household registration reform.

Household registration reform is a major social issue concerning public interests. For a long time, the reform of household registration system has been progressing slowly, and the difficulty of reform lies in its involvement in major interest adjustment. However, the dual household registration management system has become a major obstacle to the development of China's productive forces, and the reform should be carried forward no matter how difficult it is. The state must increase financial investment to ensure the smooth redistribution of benefits. At the same time, it must have enough patience and determination to continue this process, so that the constantly improving urbanization level will become the best catalyst for household registration reform.