计生委简化准生证办理程序

The Chinese Year of the Snake is fast approaching. Because it is believed that babies born during this year are wise, talented, and attractive, the government expects a surge in the number of births in the country.

Huang Meihua, a migrant worker who lives in the city of Guangzhou in southern China's Guangdong Province, is one of the people who will benefit from the new policy.

"I am from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and my husband is from Meizhou City in Guangdong Province. We encountered some problems when we tried to get a birth permit in the past two moths, but I heard that the birth registration policy for migrant workers has changed, so I came here to learn more about it."

The new policy means millions of migrant workers like Huang Meihua will be able to get birth permits from their workplaces without traveling to their hometowns to seek government proof of their marital and maternity status.

The move is aimed at saving time and money for couples who do not have a local household registration, or hukou, when they have their first child.

The family planning service permit, known as the birth permit, is a must for residents on the Chinese mainland before giving birth to babies. Without the permit, a new baby will not be allowed to register with the household, which is necessary for an education and many kinds of benefits.

The new policy now allow them to get the permit at where they live instead of where their hukou is.

But as for now, it will take some time before the policy really takes effect.

Xiao Guo and his wife are from Changchun and Tianjin respectively. Although they have settled down in Beijing for years, they were required to travel to both of their hometowns to get birth permit for their soon-to-be-born child under the old policy.

"The problem is how long it will take to actually implement the new policy. Will they me birth permit with my temporary residence permission and my property ownership certificate?"

Xiao Guo is right. His application for the permit was refused at the government branch in his neighbourhood at Beijing's Tongzhou district.

Yan Guoping, Deputy Director of the Population and Family Planning Commission of Tongzhou District, explains.

"We are trying our best to provide convenience in cases where it is possible. But the birth permit will be used to apply for registering the child's hukou in their hometown. They can't register their child's hukou with a Beijing birth permit."

Zhao Yanpei, Director of the Department of Law and Regulation at the National Population and Family Planning Commission, says it will take time before all migrant workers nationwide can benefit from the new policy.

"The announcement this time stipulates that related local administrations must help migrant workers get birth permit when they submit their applications. But China is a big country. The situation in different places and regions varies. We won't expect the new regulations to replace the old one in just one day."

Because the implementation of the new national policy is still not in sync with regional regulations, more detailed rules are needed to ensure that the policy will actually benefit migrant workers who need such a convenience the most.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.