reform has seen results statistically. Between 2010 and 2011, 3 million migrants changed their hukou.15 These include university students and families of migrant workers. A logical reason for the result is because of Chongqing’s mayor’s ambition to reduce surplus labourers in rural Chongqing. However, the focus of the reforms has been targeting legal exclusion. Reforms that address social and economic exclusion would first require the local government to stop coercive measures, because it is a manifestation of discrimination against rural people. Under the circumstance of prioritising the accomplishment of cadre evaluation targets through means of coercion rather than aiming for basic equality, the prospects for reforms that address social and economic exclusion is slim despite the statistical result.
Contrasting Chongqing, Shanghai’s motivation for hukou reform is to attract social elites. This is done through the points system.16 The system was implemented because by 2009 it had become the most aged city in China.17 Hence, the system allows the city government to distribute points based on financial qualifications and education, such that talented rural migrants are integrated into the human capital to support Shanghai’s development.
In addition to the points system, Shanghai has several kinds of hukou. The Talents residence card, which divides into four categories, is for those with stable jobs, while collective hukou is given to those assigned with a danwei. The division of hukou allows Shanghai to better allocate resources according to Shanghai’s needs, and Shanghai does not need old or uneducated rural migrants. This suggests that Shanghai is implementing hukou reform not for the sake of eliminating social or economic exclusions, but to achieve economic growth through elitist selection.
88815. T., Miller. China's Urban Billion: The story behind the biggest migration in human history. Zed Books. Kindle Edition, 2012.
88816. L., Zhang. “Economic migration and urban citizenship in china: The role of points systems.” Population and Development Review, 38(3), 2012.
88817. L., Li, S. Li, & Y. Cheng. “Better city, better life, but for whom?: The hukou and resident card system and the consequential citizenship stratification in shanghai.” City, Culture and Society, 1(3), 2010.
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