Shenyang City Government Revokes Reforms to Temporary Residence Permit System

Municipal authorities in Shenyang city, Liaoning province, will revoke reforms to the system of temporary residence permits that they adopted in July 2003, according to a December 14, 2005, article in the People's Procuratorate Daily. The head of the Shenyang Public Security Bureau (PSB) confirmed that labor officials are in the process of drafting new regulations to reinstate the requirement that migrants obtain a temporary residence permit to live and work in the city. In 2003, the Shenyang government abolished its existing temporary residence permit system in favor of a new system that only required migrants to sign in with local PSB authorities upon arrival in the city.

The government decision to end the temporary residence permit requirement between 2003 and 2005 had limited practical effect on the situation of migrants, according to the article. Migrants continued to face discrimination in employment, education, and health services. Employers continued to make jobs conditional on a person's place of hukou (household) registration. Banks required migrants seeking to purchase houses both to go to PSB authorities to obtain a "statement of temporary residence" and to locate a guarantor with a local hukou. Migrants interviewed for the article indicate that few individuals actively attempted to sign in with the PSB as required. PSB sources suggest this has led to a deterioration of their ability to monitor and control Shenyang's migrant population.

Central government authorities apparently pressed Shenyang officials to revoke the reforms. The article cites unnamed sources as saying that provincial PSB authorities wish to "standardize" the management of migrants and that the original Shenyang reforms may have been excessively "sudden." The Shenyang PSB head announced that the policy shift has been made to comply with the Liaoning provincial government's May 24, 2005, Circular on Improving Conditions for Farmers Entering Cities to Work. Both that circular and an earlier December 27, 2004 State Council circular instruct local officials to simplify administrative approvals for rural migrants who seek work in the cities, eliminate registration requirements specifically directed at migrants, and "manage [the migrant population] through the use of the temporary residence permit system alone."

Chinese officials appear to be pursuing residency reforms both to strengthen their supervision of Chinese migrants and to address discrimination against them. A December 2005 joint Communist Party and State Council opinion instructs local officials not only to develop new systems to monitor migrants but also to improve the treatment of migrants. National and local authorities have taken some steps to remove barriers to urban employment for migrants, pursuant to the 2004 State Council circular that directs officials to do so.