Zhuhai is pioneering a change in the way cities treat their migrant workers. People living in the municipality without a formal household registration (hukou) are now able to apply for various types of housing previously restricted to hukou-holders.
A public consultation draft has been issued on the city government’s website, which deletes the old category of “migrant workers” and incorporates it into a new category of “newly employed workers.” At the same time, the draft expands the coverage of its public-housing rental policy to “talents”, while dropping their effective rates from 50% of a project’s benchmark rent to 30% – an effective 40% rent cut.
Whether other cities follow suit remains to be seen. Stay tuned.
Read more (in Chinese).