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China's Household Registration System under Reform

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  • Hein Mallee

Abstract

China's household registration system is the central element in a policy of rapid industrialization with low urbanization. Figures on the non‐agricultural population show that the system was initially successful, but less so during the 1980s. As a result, a number of reforms were introduced, which are described in some detail here. The registration system must be viewed as playing three interrelated roles: it is an instrument of development policy, aimed at keeping urban populations small while fostering industrial development; a social institution which rigidly divides Chinese society into a rural and an urban segment; and an instrument of state control, which the state employs to cultivate client groups. This article further argues that the contradiction between the need to adapt the system to changing realities, dictated by its developmental role, and the tenacity of the vested interests inherent in the social institutional role of the system, form a major obstacle to fundamental reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Hein Mallee, 1995. "China's Household Registration System under Reform," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 26(1), pages 1-29, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:26:y:1995:i:1:p:1-29
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7660.1995.tb00541.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Blecher, Marc, 1983. "Peasant labour for urban industry: Temporary contract labour, urban-rural balance and class relations in a Chinese county," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 11(8), pages 731-745, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Alan de Brauw & John Giles, 2018. "Migrant Labor Markets and the Welfare of Rural Households in the Developing World: Evidence from China," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 32(1), pages 1-18.
    2. Heather Xiaoquan Zhang & Jimmy McWhinney, 2012. "Working with the homeless: The case of a non-profit organisation in Shanghai," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 27(4), pages 373-387, June.
    3. Alan de Brauw & John Giles, 2017. "Migrant Opportunity and the Educational Attainment of Youth in Rural China," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(1), pages 272-311.
    4. Afridi, Farzana & Li, Sherry Xin & Ren, Yufei, 2015. "Social identity and inequality: The impact of China's hukou system," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 17-29.
    5. Wei, Yanning & Gong, Yue, 2019. "Understanding Chinese rural-to-urban migrant children’s education predicament: A dual system perspective," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Lohmar, Bryan & Rozelle, Scott & Zhao, Changbao, 2000. "The Rise Of Rural-To-Rural Labor Markets In China," Working Papers 11955, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

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