https://www.eastisread.com/p/why-are-immigrant-population-denied?r=b9qmq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

"Hukou is a vital institution influencing China's labor market and internal migration, and it is under reform. Small and medium cities with under 5 million permanent urban residents have now fully lifted hukou restrictions. However, in bigger cities, public services tied to hukou status still treat non-local permanent residents differently. Efforts are ongoing to address this.

The end goal is that after several years of reform, people can move freely, and hukou will become just a registration of where you live, not determinant of your access to public services. The central government has clearly signaled this reform direction."

Resolution criteria:

This question will resolve YES when, broadly speaking*, any PRC citizen can move to any Chinese city and access government services without onerous restrictions.

It will resolve NO if this does not happen before 2030.

*I will make an exception if some groups or individuals are not able to do this, but it is clear that there is a different primary motivating factor. For example, if Uyghurs or Tibetans were not allowed free movement to eastern Chinese cities but other ethnic groups in Western China were.

Giving immigrant workers urban identities: what can be done?

Lu Ming, Professor at Shanghai Jiaotong University, drums up hukou reforms for fairer access to urban benefits.