A joint editorial in 13 mainland newspapers has called on the nation’s top legislative body to abolish the hukou system – strict population controls that have split the country into rural and urban areas for decades.

The editorial appeared in metropolitan newspapers from 11 provinces and areas yesterday on the eve of the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress beginning on Friday, and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, beginning tomorrow.

The papers include The Economic Observer in Beijing, the Chongqing Times, The Southern Metropolitan News in Guangdong, the Inner Mongolia Morning News, the Dahe Daily in Henan and the Southeast Express in Fujian.

The joint editorial said the hukou regulation was unconstitutional and a flagrant violation of human rights.

The hukou system was introduced in 1958 when the central government issued the first set of resident-registration regulations since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949.  It put a lid on free migration flow, particularly from rural areas to cities.

But as the mainland has developed in recent decades, concerns have been expressed that the system may be doing more harm than good with the divide between the urban and rural populations growing into a chasm.

The editorial said the hukou system had led to unfair competition between urban and rural people and was a breeding ground for the corrupt sale of urban residence permits.

South China Morning Post – 2nd March

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