🏅 Top traders

This is nationwide policy. It's in the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan (promulgated in late 2019, for the years 2020-2024).

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%8E%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E5%85%B1%E5%92%8C%E5%9B%BD%E5%9B%BD%E6%B0%91%E7%BB%8F%E6%B5%8E%E5%92%8C%E7%A4%BE%E4%BC%9A%E5%8F%91%E5%B1%95%E7%AC%AC%E5%8D%81%E5%9B%9B%E4%B8%AA%E4%BA%94%E5%B9%B4%E8%A7%84%E5%88%92%E5%92%8C2035%E5%B9%B4%E8%BF%9C%E6%99%AF%E7%9B%AE%E6%A0%87%E7%BA%B2%E8%A6%81?fromtitle=%E5%8D%81%E5%9B%9B%E4%BA%94&fromid=197230&fromModule=lemma_search-box

The goals are:
-- For cities with urban population below 3M: completely eliminate hukou restrictions (全面取消落户限制, lit. completely cancel restrictions on establishing hukou residency)

-- For cities with urban population between 3M and 5M: completely loosen hukou conditions (全面放宽落户条件)

-- For cities with urban population over 5M: improve the points system used in hukou requirements, consider cancelling registration quotas, etc.

It's not clear precisely what this means -- it's written in Chinese bureaucratese -- but news articles indicate that requirements have been substantially loosened in many cities across China.

@Boklam Here are some cities that have announced much looser policies in 2022:

Ningbo (Zhejiang) as of Oct. 18

https://m.thepaper.cn/quickApp_jump.jsp?contid=20346931

Jiangmen (Guangdong) as of Sep. 29 (from a local government website)

http://www.kaiping.gov.cn/jmkpsgaj/gkmlpt/content/2/2154/mpost_2154129.html#2933

Zhengzhou (Henan) (see market description for link to a news article in English)

Jinan (Shandong) as of June 1

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzI1NDU3NjkyNA==&mid=2247529813&idx=1&sn=32896a4715862d83fc87d03e9df5d274&chksm=e9c12526deb6ac3011f36073c1d554d975f2edc876d4506682bcbd53f438b5d934a6bbf8d282&scene=27

Fuzhou (Fujian) as of May 9

https://gaj.fuzhou.gov.cn/zz/ztlm/hzywbszn/jnjmbszn/hkqy_62020/202205/t20220509_4358317.htm

Dalian (Liaoning) as of May

https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1733904881657340925&wfr=spider&for=pc

Why am I saying restrictions have been "loosened" and not "ended"? In Chinese, "hukou" is China's residency registration system. Some requirements are not going away -- proof of residency (rented or owned), enrollment in local "social insurance", etc. But the word hukou as used in English-language media describes a system of regulations that prevent people from accessing local benefits when they move to a new city for work. (After all, economic opportunity is what attracts people to these larger cities in the first place.)

So the question I have in mind is: if an average Chinese citizen moves to this city, rents an apartment and finds a new job, can they establish hukou residency?

In many cities, the answer is now yes.

https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1733904881657340925&wfr=spider&for=pc

Here's a detailed analysis from Dalian. To establish hukou in Dalian (as of May) it is now enough to have at least one of the following:

(1) own property in Dalian

(2) have a valid local employment contract

(3) be actively seeking work

(4) have family members who are eligible

(or several others). The article contrasts this with the previous system (which used a points system to determine eligibility, had limits on age, and made it difficult for family members to register).

In Jinan (as of June), it is sufficient to own or rent a local residence -- and there are other paths to eligibility as well.

In Jiangmen (Sept. 29), length-of-residency and length-of-employment requirements have been eliminated, and any one of the following types of evidence is now sufficient: employment, establishment of a business, renting property. The Q&A is worth clicking on if you've never seen a Chinese "cute cop" cartoon before.

http://www.kaiping.gov.cn/jmkpsgaj/gkmlpt/content/2/2154/mpost_2154129.html#2933

(Scroll down to the "text message with cute cop" pictures.)

Q: I signed a labor contract with a local factory. Can I register?

A: (in lots of words) Yes, absolutely.

Q: I'm just renting an apartment here, and I don't have a job. Can I register?
A: (in lots of words) Yes, absolutely.

@Boklam Ok, I believe this sufficient to resolve YES. But I will wait 24 hours to see if anyone complains.

@SG Ready to resolve? :)