Taking one of his proposals this year, Bi Jingquan, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and deputy director of the Economic Committee, told reporters a simple arithmetic question: In 2023, the urbanization rate of China's permanent population will increase to 66.2%, which is 47% based on the registered population. %, a difference of 19 percentage points between the two.

　　In the past year, Bi Jingquan, who once served as Party Secretary of the State Administration for Market Regulation, has done a lot of "market research" for this 19% of the population.

In accordance with the arrangements of the Economic Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, he led the research team to carry out a special research on "accelerating the urbanization of agricultural transfer population".

　　The government work report, which was submitted to the National People's Congress for deliberation on March 5, pointed out that "accelerating the urbanization of agricultural migrant workers should be given a prominent position", including deepening the reform of the household registration system, improving the "people, land and money" linkage policy, so that willing people can Migrant workers who migrate to cities will settle in cities and towns to promote equal access to urban basic public services for the non-settled permanent residents.

　　On March 6, Zheng Shajie, director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at the press conference of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress that according to a survey by the National Bureau of Statistics, there are still 170 million migrant workers and their accompanying family members who have not yet settled in cities and towns. Promoting the urbanization of this group of people in an orderly manner is the primary task of urbanization.

　　Bi Jingquan suggested that housing security should be the core to promote the urbanization of agricultural transfer population.

“Now we have a real estate glut on the one hand, and migrant workers working in the cities without housing on the other,” he pointed out.

　　One of his specific suggestions is to include married migrant workers with stable jobs within the scope of public rental housing security.

He said that in a few megacities where the total price of houses exceeds 10 times the annual income of ordinary migrant workers' families, agricultural migrant workers who have worked and lived in the city for many years and are engaged in housekeeping, catering, sanitation, takeout services, etc. must be included in the scope of public rental housing security.

In addition, to increase the supply of public rental housing and affordable rental housing, for example, unfinished buildings or vacant commercial properties can be acquired and transformed into affordable housing.

　　Bi Jingquan said: "If you have a house to live in, you can take your wife and children here and make it feel like a home, so that you can keep people."

　　"After farmers enter the city, they must stay and live a sustainable life." Liu Yongfu, another member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former director of the State Council Poverty Alleviation Office who participated in the survey, told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily.

　　Ning Jizhe, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, deputy director of the Economic Committee, and former director of the National Bureau of Statistics, also participated in the survey on this topic.

On March 5, at the CPPCC Economic Sector Group meeting, Ning Jizhe talked about the survey.

He believed that this survey was more in-depth and focused on practical issues.

　　"Perform duties for the country and fulfill responsibilities for the people." They finally formed the "Research Report on Accelerating the Citizenization of Agricultural Transfer Populations."

It is recommended that cities with a population of more than 3 million relax settlement restrictions

　　Chen Li, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of China Mobile Shanghai Company, remembers that during a four-day survey last year, Bi Jingquan repeatedly talked about "living and working in peace and contentment."

　　Regarding the topic of urbanization of agricultural transfer population, Chen Li participated in two surveys.

He told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily, "This topic is too important."

　　The committee members visited 13 districts and counties in 8 districts in Chongqing and 3 cities in Henan. They visited 39 units, including vocational training schools, public rental housing communities, enterprises and government affairs halls. They also held several meetings with representatives of local governments and migrant workers. forum.

　　At a reservoir construction site in Zhengzhou, Bi Jingquan discussed wages, housing, children's education, and vocational training with migrant workers on the spot. He was most concerned about the "settlement" of this group in the city.

　　At the China Mobile Luoyang call center, Chen Li also chatted with his "little colleagues".

He noticed that "although that young man has not settled down, he lives in the city and has a strong sense of belonging."

Many employees of the Luoyang call center come from rural areas, but they provide remote services to Shanghai, which has a population of more than 25 million.

　　"Citizenization of agricultural transfer population" not only refers to the process of farmers leaving rural areas and agricultural production to live in cities, but more importantly, it means that they should be equal to urban residents in terms of social identity, rights, public services, etc. .

This sentence appears in important official documents - the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to promote a new type of urbanization centered on people and accelerate the urbanization of agricultural migrant workers; the No. 1 Central Document of 2024 mentioned that the implementation of a new round of agricultural Citizenization of the transferred population.

　　In recent years, different forces have been pulling on this horizontal line.

For example, the household registration system continues to develop, and cities with a permanent population of less than 3 million have basically lifted restrictions on settlement.

　　In this regard, the first suggestion Bi Jingquan put forward in his proposal this year was to "relax the settlement restrictions for agricultural transfers."

He believes that the regulations on liberalizing urban settlement in cities with a population of less than 3 million must continue to be implemented.

At the same time, restrictions on the settlement of agricultural migrant workers in cities with a population of more than 3 million must also be relaxed.

If calculated based on 50 square meters of housing, cities where the total price of urban housing is no more than 8-10 times the annual income of local migrant workers' families can relax settlement restrictions and allow agricultural transfer residents who purchase houses to settle on site.

Understand “19%” and be realistic

　　Chen Li feels that understanding the “19%” depends on the specific situation. This is what he felt during the survey.

　　In some areas of Chongqing and Henan, he learned that the local agricultural transfer population was mainly "locals" who moved from rural areas to urban areas or provincial capitals, not far from home.

Some people subjectively hope to retain their rural hukou, and the public services they enjoy are not significantly different from those of citizens. Their demand for settlement is not high.

　　But in very large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, the situation is different.

　　Chen Li also told reporters an arithmetic problem: Shanghai has 25 million permanent residents, less than half of whom have household registration, and the other more than 10 million people come from all over the country.

After staying for a long time, many people want to stay. Without a household registration, they will indeed run into trouble when buying a car or a house or sending their children to school.

　　In his view, a person, whether he is an agricultural person or not, comes to a city when he is young and wants to integrate into the city, build a home here, find a sense of belonging, and "experience the same story."

He also believes that the “19%” problem must be solved.

　　Chen Zhen is among this number.

He is a dragon, 36 years old, and was born in a village in Longxi County, Dingxi City, Gansu Province.

In 2006, when he came of age, he went to work in Beijing. He worked as a security guard, sold real estate, and now is a courier.

　　Over the years, he got married and had a child. His wife is a colleague, the children are at home, and his parents are still farming.

　　After living in Beijing for 16 years, Chen Zhen said, "I don't feel that I am not from here."

He has experienced the city's expansion and felt the excitement of the Olympic Games.

He adapted to the seasons, knew the streets, and had many friends.

He didn't find it troublesome to go to the hospital because "there is social security."

　　He never wanted to leave Beijing, but he had to think about what he would do when he got old if he couldn't afford a house.

He and his younger brother who came out to work together bought houses in their hometown in the county, "which was a way out."

　　This is a typical story of agricultural population transfer.

At the second meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Bi Jingquan once spoke about the problems encountered by Chen Zhen's group: in megacities with a population of more than 10 million and excessively high housing prices, housing problems for agricultural migrant workers are prominent.

　　During last year's research, Bi Jingquan learned that the divorce rate was higher in some rural areas after the Spring Festival.

One of the reasons is that couples who work in cities and have been separated for a long time only return to their hometowns to reunite during the Chinese New Year, which can easily lead to conflicts.

He also pays close attention to news about the psychological problems of left-behind children, pays attention to their growth, and hopes to promote "children to live with their parents."

　　"We have to consider these things from their perspective." Bi Jingquan said, "We also have to consider it from the social level."

　　Chen Li also suggested that we should appropriately relax the settlement restrictions except for some mega cities, streamline the settlement points project, and improve the coverage of basic urban public services to the permanent population - this "full" means to cover the "19%", including allowing Migrant children should have equal access to education, eradicate the problem of wage arrears for migrant workers, ensure that migrant workers have social insurance, and encourage qualified places to include the urban permanent population within the scope of housing security policies.

"Transfer" is not a simple transfer of household registration, nor is it a natural flow of population

　　When he went to Chongqing for research, Chen Li had discussions with delivery boys, courier boys, and online ride-hailing drivers. He felt that “this kind of profession is highly replaceable and highly mobile” and has a relatively low sense of belonging.

In a mold factory, he found that because the company has high requirements for the technical ability of workers and that the products are competitive and marketable, workers with rural registered permanent residence are not very mobile. Many people have been with each other for many years and have no sense of belonging to the company and the city. All very strong.

　　This discovery prompted him to think that in addition to gradually keeping up with social security, the country should also consider the industrial layout of the urbanization of the agricultural migrant population.

With positive incentives from policies, the cost of population stability for agricultural transfers will be lower.

　　"We have institutional advantages. We not only rely on market factors, but also the government can guide young people so that they can study and reserve in a targeted manner before reaching working age." Chen Li said.

"When we choose jobs for our children, in addition to hobbies, we must also consider the long-term layout of the country."

　　Bi Jingquan also pointed out that it is necessary to vigorously develop the manufacturing industry, encourage invention and innovation, and provide more employment opportunities in cities for the agricultural migrant population.

　　A large number of "agricultural transfer populations" have been "serving" the country's layout.

Some people say that the Shekou Industrial Park in 1979 was the first generation of migrant workers who laid the first "ground stake" for China's opening up to the outside world.

　　In Bi Jingquan's view, the builders of these cities are getting old, and many of them cannot return to their former hometowns.

Some of their second and third generations grew up in the city. They cannot be allowed to feel that this city "does not belong to them" because of their "originality."

　　"Actually, our urban development is inseparable from them." Bi Jingquan told reporters.

　　Chen Li pointed out that in addition to jointly building the city with locals, the arrival of the agricultural migrant population has also boosted demand for urban housing, education, senior care, medical care and leisure and entertainment, and stimulated investment in urban infrastructure and public service facilities. Through new consumption and investment to unleash greater domestic demand potential and make cities more prosperous.

　　In 2022, during the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in Shanghai, courier Chen Zhen went to "support".

When he delivers daily necessities to people one by one, he feels "especially accomplished".

As soon as Shanghai's lockdown was lifted, he couldn't wait to return to Beijing and "hurry home."

　　By 2025, a large number of agricultural people will move to cities and towns.

Chen Li said that their citizenship is not a simple transfer of household registration, nor is it a natural flow of population. It requires an economic system and management system to support the transformation of this group from rural to urban living scenes.

　　At the same time, with the pace of rural revitalization in China, infrastructure in rural areas has been greatly improved.

When asked if he wanted to bring his parents to Beijing, Chen Zhen laughed.

He said that the village in his hometown is very good now. It is beautifully built and has everything. It is also convenient to see a doctor.

He had invited him, but the old man was not willing to come and felt that "it is more comfortable at home."

But he prefers to stay in Beijing, where he is struggling. For him, this city not only means "making some money", but also means "home".

Not just research, but more importantly how to solve problems

　　Even though more than half a year has passed, Chen Li is still deeply impressed by some parts of the survey.

　　He remembers walking into an affordable housing community in Chongqing and marveling at its size.

Another time, he communicated with a private entrepreneur. Because they were in different industries, the other person talked about the company's seasonality, labor patterns, etc., which made him feel that it "enriched my ideas."

A member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from the housing and urban construction department, who is a real estate expert, seems to have a "keep in mind" when it comes to affordable housing across the country.

　　Chen Li said that the survey is an opportunity for CPPCC members to go deep into society and communicate with each other; at the same time, because it is a topic organized by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, "it allows me to improve my political stance and look at issues."

　　He said that the current urbanization of China's agricultural migrant population is a huge and systematic project, and there are still many problems, some of which cannot be solved "overnight."

For example, there are restrictions on household registration transfers, high public costs for citizenship, and slow progress in equalizing public services and social rights.

　　"We can't just do research, but more importantly, work hard to study how to solve problems." Bi Jingquan said.

　　As a former "government official" and now a "Member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference", Bi Jingquan often considers two perspectives at the same time when performing his duties.

Government departments are on the front line and think about "whether they have the conditions to do it"; members of the CPPCC are more professional and think about "how it should be done".

In his view, suggestions made by CPPCC members should be more constructive and feasible, and should be able to mention "key points."

　　He used to add the word "brother" when talking about "migrant workers".

When the college entrance examination was resumed that year, before he was admitted to the Department of Economics of Peking University, he worked in his hometown and had a deep affection for the land.

　　In 2020, seven departments including the Ministry of Natural Resources clarified that farmers’ homestead use rights can be inherited by their children with urban household registration in accordance with the law.

When the agricultural transfer population settles in cities and towns, should rural homesteads be retained?

When asked this question, Bi Jingquan’s suggestion was: “It’s all voluntary! Let migrant workers have a choice.”

　　This newspaper, Beijing, March 6

　　China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Qin Zhenzi Source: China Youth Daily