Economics

China Loosens Urban Residency Restrictions to Spur Growth

Xi Jinping’s overhaul of the decades-old policy will drive a move to cities in the country’s interior.

Household registers in China, also known as hukou.

Photo: ImagineChina/Alamy

In China, where you’re born can make all the difference.

The nation’s residency permit, known as the hukou, defines a person’s entire life. Since the system’s introduction six decades ago, the hukou has determined where people can live, where they can work, and where their children go to school; it can even influence whom they choose to marry.