The government has given its biggest hint that it could be ready to reform the long disputed household registration policy, the hukou system.

China established the two-tier hukou system in the 1950s to control population migration, largely from rural areas to cities.

However rural people were not granted social security in cities and were restricted access to vital public services such as education and medical care.

Their "non-rural" compatriots have no access to farmland in the countryside.

However, on Thursday the issue was a major topic at a national conference held by the Ministry of Public Security.

Though few details were released the ministry said the key to giving citizens equal treatment was "unifying the hukou system".

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A ministry report said 12 places, including Hebei, Liaoning, Shandong provinces, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chongqing Municipality, had launched pilot programs to experiment with a system that narrowed differentiation between rural and urban residents.

Beijing, Shanghai and some cities in Guangdong Province had also loosened restrictions to make rural people change their identification.

The report also said that the ministry would further promote reform across the country and try to establish a "unified hukou system" based on people's permanent living address.

The ministry's move is perhaps in response to growing public disquiet about the aging hukou policy.

A recent online survey at Sina.com, China's biggest news portal, shows that 91.7 percent of the 11,168 respondents consider it necessary to reform the system, suggesting a referendum on the issue.

Reform of the hukou system began in 1992, and to this day, has not reached a satisfactory conclusion, largely because it has many complicated policies attached to it.

There is even growing support among some government quarters for urgent reform.

But others have warned against rushing to change the system too quickly as it could have disastrous consequences.

Zhang Weiqing, minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, warned earlier that any missteps in the reform could result in slums springing up throughout the country.

Fortunately though, the State Council has realized the importance of cooperation among its ministries.

In 2006, six groups with members from 14 central departments, including the Ministries of Education, Health, Labor and Social Security, were dispatched to 12 provinces to research how best to implement such a significant reform process.