Policy for floating population

With the transformation of the Chinese government's main role from a "development-preoccupied" one to one focusing on improving people's livelihood, the country's floating population has undergone a change of status. From being restricted and regulated, the floating population is now being encouraged to better integrate into the local community.

The country has witnessed waves of concentrated population movement since the founding of New China in 1949. To bring these movements in line with the requirement of economic and social development, different policies and management methods have been adopted by the government in different historical periods. After decades of exploration and accumulation of experiences, the authorities now take it as a top priority to effectively promote integration of floating population with local dwellers when tailoring concrete policies and regulations on the management of the ever-growing group.

Currently, an overwhelming majority of the country's provinces and regions have adopted a security and social stability management model on the issue of floating population. Represented by Beijing and other economically booming provinces and metropolises, the model is mainly to maintain security and social order through promulgating a variety of rules and regulations targeted at immigrant populations. With local committees of political and legislative affairs being the main competent departments, such a management model has indeed improved services to inflowing non-native people. However, precautions against non-locals have also more or less exerted restrictions on their inflow. In today's society in which more and more economic interchanges between different regions have called for unblocked movement of populations among them, these limitations have not only become incompatible with the development of the times but are also contrary to the building of a harmonious society and people-first idea long advocated by the government.