Shanghai, the biggest business and industrial center in China, began to issue its first residence permits to people from outside the city on June 15.The permit enables people to live and work in the city whether or not they have Chinese citizenship.

　　Local officials presented 60 professionals from home and abroad with the first permits at a Shanghai ceremony. The permit is described in the city as the Shanghai version of the American green card and social security card.

　　The move is attempted to attract more skilled workers and talent to the city. As required, domestic and overseas people can both apply for the card, which does not change people's nationalities.

　　The cards awarded on Saturday were dividedsintosA- and B-types. Thirty talented domestic people got Card A, and the other 30 from overseas got Card B.

　　According to the regulations applying to the permit, holders are allowed to engage in science and research activities, start a business and apply for jobs in government institutions and local businesses.

　　Children of the permit holders will enjoy the same right to education in local schools as local children do. Chinese citizens from outside the city who hold permits are also covered by local pension and medical insurance schemes.

　　"The implementation of the policy shows that the city is striding towards integrating itself with the world,"said Li, who participated in research leading to the computer with the fastest processing speed in the country. Different from traditional residence, local authorities believe that the new policy offers more flexibility.

　　The system of residence, is the so-called "Hukou"in Chinese, and almost everything in a person's daily life is connected to that system.

　　Since "Hukou"is under the administration of different levels of governments, it brings a great deal of trouble to migrants. Without "Hukou" a migrant may find it difficult to look for a job, place children in school, and qualify for social welfare benefits.

　　Cai Fang, director of the Population Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a major Chinese think-tank, said the outdated household registration system has long been blamed for inefficient distribution of human resources, resulting in an excessive concentration of people in urban areas and a brain drain from developing areas.

　　Yet, the new residence card, which is not linked to a person's residence, will solve all these former problems.

　　It happened so suddenly, while it was quite different not long ago. Bao Suixian, deputy director of the Public Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), emphasized in Beijing on February 25 that the registered residence management system, as an important component part of China's administrative management, will exist for a long time, and "Registered residence"is not to be changed, not now, nor in the future.

　　The existing residence system, introduced in 1958 to meet the needs of a plan economy and restrict excessive growth of urban population, is now becoming a barrier to the free flow of human resources needed by a market economy.

　　Under the new policy, card holders can start their own ventures, and they can enjoy social security and reserve funds for housing. Also, children of card holders can enter school as local children.

　　The card's period of validity varies from six months to one year, three years, and five years. Card holders may apply to renew expired cards.

　　"But the card specifically targets well-educated talent,"said Zhong Yupeng, vice-mayor of the city, at the awards ceremony. "In the next few years, the city will tap card C, D and even more for migrant workers, even if their education is lacking."

　　Shanghai has taken the lead in instituting a residence system instead of domicile control, according to which communal management, family planning, population control and other related services are provided by various grassroots residential centers, a move away from traditional domicile control long practiced in China.

　　Shanghai has nowadays a constant drifting population of over 2.3 million and most of these are found to have no fixed domicile. According to Xinmin Evening News, following a domicile-based population and family planning management system as was in the past can in no way meet the new situation in Shanghai today.

　　Family planning departments see to it that necessary reproduction health services are provided for all residential people and laid-off workers in Shanghai, including those of floating population from other provinces.

　　Public security departments in Shanghai have their designated task to check on "Drifting population marital and childbearing certificates when temporary residential certificates are issued. Labor and industry and commercial departments undertake the work to checksintosfamily planning when they issue business license. Health departments also need to check "Childbearing cards" House departments are required to exercise strict control on house leasing and lending management.

　　Fujian

　　Fujian Province will soon carry out a reform in which an outdated agricultural and non-agricultural population system for two-track population management and the index management on transferring agricultural populationsintosnon-agricultural population to be replaced by a unified residence management system and admittance qualifications respectively, a step taken to ensure free population flow from country to town and speed up urbanization all over Fujian.

　　The main contents for the reform are as follows:

　　1. To abolish the system for agricultural, non-agricultural and other population management left over from days of the planned economy, meanwhile to introduce a unified residential management system.

　　2. To replace index management on transferring agricultural populationsintosnon-agricultural population by admittance qualifications in line with relevant policies and local practices.

　　3. Parents, children, or husbands wives may transfer their registered residency to the placesswherestheir children, parents, or wives / husbands live and work.

　　Henceforth permanent residency will be registered in line with the dwellers"legal habitations, careers, income sources or other living bases. Professionals and specialized personnel working in high-tech and technical enterprises, scientific research institutions, provincial key projects, and out-of-the-way regions are permitted to register themselves, their mates and underage children as permanent residents if their residence conditions are allowed. In addition, Fuzhou and Xiamen will introduce preferential policies for mainly absorbing undergraduates and talents with a higher academic degree.

　　Hebei

　　Last year many people from rural Hunan province in central China, together with their families became permanent residents of Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei province, thanks to a radical residence reform introduced on August 1 last year.

　　As permanent residents in the city, their families are now eligible for a number of services previously reserved exclusively for local urban residents, such as access to local schooling for his three children.

　　Henan

　　Henan also carried out residency reforms last year. Li Keqiang, governor of central China's Henan province, announced that a total of 15 to 18 million of the province's rural residents were expected to become permanent

　　Guangdong

　　South China's rich province of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong, plans to scrap the practice of dividing its populationsintosagricultural and non-agricultural categories.

　　Guangdong provincial officials said Guangdong will register its residents according to their places of residence, and introduce unified and non-discriminatory rights of abode to all residents in the province

　　Beijing

　　In Zhongguancun, an area with thousands of high-tech companies and research institutes in the capital city, about 100,000 young people with college education are currently employed by the high- tech firms without permanent residence rights in Beijing.

　　A deputy from Beijing said he could not imagine Zhongguancun's smooth operation if the 100,000 young people were driven back to places of their permanent residence as rural farmers have experienced in the past.