China's urbanization rate reached 59.58 percent in 2018, increasing 1.06 percent year on year. The gentler growth is partly attributable to the obstacles the rural population faces in moving to cities. This includes the household registration system which draws a distinct line between urban and rural residents with the two groups having differing rights. Rural people also have concerns about being denied their share in the collective economy if they forfeit their rural household registration.

Mobility from rural to urban areas is one of the drivers of economic and social progress.

In recent years, the Chinese Government has unveiled a series of measures to promote the household registration system reform in order to boost mobility. The State Council, China's cabinet, published guidelines in September 2016 to promote 100 million migrant workers and other permanent residents of cities to secure urban household registration by 2020.

China has also set the goal of increasing the proportion of registered urban residents to 45 percent by 2020; the figure at the end of 2017 was 42.35 percent.

Though the goal is achievable, it is also important to promote people-centred urbanization which focuses on improving the quality of life for urban residents and not focus purely on numbers.

(This is an edited excerpt of an article originally published in Guangming Daily on January 24)