Beijing's municipal government released a points-based system through which migrants can seek to become permanent urban residents, a policy authorities said aims to manage the capital's population and attract skilled workers, though experts estimated that less than 10,000 people will succeed in reregistering and cautioned that the system may be discriminatory.
The points-based residency permit system stipulates that migrants who want to obtain a Beijing household registration, or hukou, must meet four baseline requirements to apply: They must have residence permits in Beijing, pay social insurance in the capital for seven consecutive years, have no criminal record and be younger than the official retirement age - 60 for men and 50 for women - the Beijing Times reported.
Those who are under 45 years old can receive an additional 20 points on their applications. Applicants who have master's degrees will receive 26 points, and those with PhDs will get 37 points.
The new system - which will take effect on January 1, 2017 - will put an end to the existing annual quota system, which mainly allows employees of government agencies or State-owned enterprises to apply for Beijing hukou.
People who live in Beijing but lack permanent residency in the city have to navigate many inconveniences, including the fact that schools are open first to Beijing hukou holders' children, while migrants' children have to pay higher fees. High school students whose hukou are registered to other cities must return to their hometowns to take the national college entrance exams and must earn much higher scores to attend the best universities in Beijing, inewsweek.cn reported.
The final quota for new Beijing hukou has yet to be decided. An official from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform said it would depend on the yearly population target and the overall number of applicants, the Beijing Times reported.
The policy will enable no more than 10,000 migrants to obtain Beijing hukou every year, Li Xiaozhuang, a researcher at the market survey center of Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Beijing Times.
Zhou Xiaozheng, a professor of sociology at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Monday that the policy may discriminate against people from the bottom of society, since it favors young and highly educated groups.
Du Peng, director of the Center for Aging Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times that the policy provides nonresidents a chance to get Beijing hukou, but it may cause social welfare inequalities.
