China's financial hub, Shanghai, announced new measures to its "hukou" policy in June 2009. The Shanghai Municipal Government said it would improve the famously bureaucratic system to give more residents a chance at qualifying for permanent residency.

The hukou system has been in place in China since 1958, piding the population into urban and rural households. With better social security, welfare benefits and public services in the cities, permanent urban residency appeals to many.

Shanghai's latest reform of its hukou system is the fourth adjustment since 1978. Government officials said thousands of people will benefit from the new reforms.

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Much has been made of migrant workers' official exclusion from city services such as health and education due to the lack of an urban hukou, or residency permit. But as if this were not enough of a challenge for China's 211 million migrants to overcome, they also face illegal exploitation by unscrupulous companies who maximise profits at the expense of their workers. Rights groups have warned that in a flagrant breach of Chinese employment law, greedy bosses do not sign contracts with migrants, do not offer them medical insurance or compensation in the event of work-related accidents and frequently withhold their salaries.

Most Internet users don't think this is a good policy. A lot of people here feel that this is a form of discrimination. Many thought that the government was supposed to be phasing out the hukou system, so they are asking why is Beijing still using it to attract these so-called “top talented people.” Another commenter says the hukou system has nothing to do with attracting more talented people. But others think that this policy marks a good start for softening restrictions throughout the whole country. They also believe that it’s good for the capital's development, but only if it’s implemented well.

When you think of museums, words like ancient, priceless, rare or exquisite come to mind. But in the northeastern suburbs of Beijing, there's a museum which seems a world away from those concepts. And it details the often-ignored parallel history between a special group of migrant workers and the development of China.

These are various temporary residence permits from different cities through the years. They used to be like lucky charms for millions of migrant workers, because if you were unfortunate enough to come across the local police without it, you would likely be fined, arrested or sent home.

But this was never to happen again after Sun Zhigang, a college-educated migrant worker, was beaten to death in police custody after being detained for not carrying a permit in 2003.

China's household registration system is known as Hukou. In the city of Chongqing…which is one of the four municipalities directly under the central government in China… the hukou system is now starting to be reformed. This is allowing ten million rural residents to have urban residency certificates. Over the next two years, an estimated three million people will gain urban citizenship. Within just a week after the reform plan started, 34 thousand villagers had already obtained an urban residency certificate. As the hukou strongly affects Chinese in their everyday life, the reform is bringing much attention to the system. BON's Hattie Zhao went to find out how ordinary Chinese people are experiencing the system change.

What's the general reaction from Chinese Internet users? Well, most Internet users do support it and say it's no different from giving birth in Hong Kong. One person says that as a human being, no matter where you come from, if there is a country that can provide a better society, environment and welfare, then why not? Another person says that it is very cheap for a Chinese person to give birth in the US, and that it costs about the same to get a Beijing Hukou, or residence permit. Others think that it’s not harmful to China at all, because with such a huge population, it might even be good for the country to ease the number of people here.

Foreign professionals living in Shanghai can now extend their residence permit for up to five years instead of the previous one. But the new rule is only applicable to certain occupations. BON's Mark Dreyer tells us who's eligible and who's not.