Hukou

Hukou (Chinese: 户口; lit. 'household individual'; IPA: [xû.kʰòʊ̯]) is a system of household registration used in mainland China. The system itself is more properly called huji (Chinese: 户籍; lit. 'household origin'; IPA: [xû.t͡ɕǐ]), and has origins in ancient China; hukou is the registration of an individual in the system. A household registration record officially identifies a person as a permanent resident of an area and includes identifying information such as name, parents, spouse and date of birth. A hukou can also refer to a family register in many contexts since the household register (simplified Chinese: 户口簿; traditional Chinese: 戶口簿; pinyin: hùkǒu bù) is issued per family, and usually includes the births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and moves of all members in the family. The system descends in part from ancient Chinese household registration systems. The hukou system also influenced similar systems within the public administration structures of neighbouring East Asian countries, such as Japan (koseki) and Korea (hoju), as well as the Southeast Asian country Vietnam (hộ khẩu). In South Korea, the hoju system was abolished in January 2008. While unrelated in origin, propiska in the Soviet Union and resident registration in Russia had a similar purpose and served as a model for modern China's hukou system. In the modern era, the hukou system functions as an administrative tool to address challenges of rapid urbanisation, primarily through population management and controlled migration to megacities and large urban centres. A central rationale of such policies, particularly in first-tier cities, has been to prevent severe overcrowding, infrastructure overload, and the emergence of large-scale slums during China's rapid industrialisation and urbanisation phases. Shahid Yusuf, a Senior Adviser in the World Bank’s Development Research Group, noted that the hukou system served as a "cornerstone of China's urbanisation strategy" by controlling migration and channelling migrants toward...