Reforms to China's household registration system will offer only mild stimulus to the country's economy, though they reinforce Beijing's commitment to long-term wealth inequality issues, even at the expense of the business environment. China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced on Aug. 3 that it would promote the nationwide implementation of reforms to the hukou household registration program that were originally outlined in 2021. The hukou program assigns each Chinese citizen with a given residence location along with access to social services in that locality. The ministry pledged to promote the ''complete abolition'' of settlement restrictions in cities with a permanent population of less than 3 million people, a ''full relaxation'' of restrictions for cities with populations between 3-5 million, and the improvement of the points-based system for resettlement to cities of more than 5 million people. This suggests the police and other MPS authorities in charge of enforcing the...
