China floats hukou system reforms

China may launch a system of national resident permits to replace the household registration or “hukou” regime that is often criticized for turning rural residents into second-class citizens, Reuters reported. The country’s new leaders will introduce a “unified national resident permit system” after the current annual session of the parliament as part of a 10-year plan to urbanize the Chinese population, a government researcher told Reuters. The system will deliver equal benefits to rural and urban residents and be eased in slowly, he said. Politicians and analysts are widely looking to urbanization to boost consumption and provide a new growth driver for the Chinese economy.