State Council has issued a plan to establish a sound fiscal policy system which can fully support rural migrants’ urbanization and ensure their equal access to public services in urban areas.

The move is aimed at improving the mechanisms for coordinating urban and rural development in an effort to allow farmers to share the fruits of the country’s modernization.

Residency registration system has been hindering the urbanization process in that it restricts rural migrants’ access to medical insurance, education, social insurance and job opportunities.

Therefore, according to the Ministry of Finance, specific measures have been included in the plan to ensure those with a temporary residence permit are also entitled to the basic public services enjoyed by urban residents.

The plan also decided to establish an incentive mechanism to resolve the issues of high cost and financial pressure caused by rural migrants’ urbanization.

The funds granted to the local governments depend on the number of migrants being settled and the quality of public services being provided. The incentive mechanism will play a key role in providing proper guidance to ensure that around 100 million rural migrants will gain residency status in urban areas by 2020.

In addition, the plan includes strict policies to protect rural migrants ‘interests, granting them the rights to continue to possess, use, benefit from and transfer their contracted land, as well as the right to use their land ownership as a collateral or guarantee during the urbanization process.

The ministry stressed that fiscal policies should play a leading and incentive role in promoting rural migrants’ urbanization, which will gain them equal access to public services and citizen rights enjoyed by urban residents.