China's urbanization drive to focus on integrating rural migrants

BEIJING -- China's urbanization drive will focus on integrating rural residents into cities by granting household registration to migrant workers who have lived and worked steadily there, said a statement released Tuesday after the Central Urban Work Conference.

The two-day meeting agreed that China will promote integration in an orderly manner and push forward reforms of land, finance, education, employment, medical service, elderly care and housing to support the process.

Given decades of economic advance, China's urban areas have been expanding rapidly with an enormous population of migrant workers swarming into cities, most of whom have no urban household registration.

Without urban resident status, they cannot enjoy equal public services to other residents.

Official data showed that although nearly 55 percent of China's population live in cities, less than 40 percent are registered urban residents.