China: cadastro residencial hukou e crescimento econômico

Abstract

China has been gaining increasing importance in the global economic context and, consequently, in international news. The mix between Capitalism and Communism, with huge State participation both in politics and economy, contributes to the accelerated economic growth of the country. Such a singularity is mostly due to the use of various instruments, administered by the State. One of them is the hukou system of residence registration, which was created in the 1950’s, period of implementation of the ideas of Mao Zedong. Besides defining where the citizen is registered to live and work, the Chinese hukou divides the population between rural and urban areas. One of its goals is to control migration. Still, 200 million Chinese have migrated from the countryside to the cities of China during the last 20 years and they have less rights and benefits than those natural citizens of the urban areas, resulting in a serious social problem. Several reforms were made in hukou over the years and their causes and consequences demonstrate the close relationship between the mechanism and the economic growth of China. Our assignment seeks to understand that relationship, detailing the characteristics of the hukou system and also of the Chinese economy, what includes the essential reforms promoted by the government of Deng Xiaoping since 1978