According to a municipal government decree from last Monday, those contributing to Beijing's development will be granted a working residence right, which has been dubbed the capital city's "green card."

Applicants, with the prerequisite of owning a fixed residence in the city, must also meet one of the following requirements for qualification: working in Beijing for two years with a bachelor's degree or above; holding a mid-level professional title or higher; or contributing significantly to the capital's development or providing badly needed contributions in certain sectors.

Beijing has opened its doors wider than compared with a 1999 policy that confined applicants to being staff of high-tech endeavors, employment at the headquarters of multinational companies, or their associated research institutes. The new regulations expand the scope to enterprises in other sectors.

The new edict is commendable since it is sure to sharpen Beijing's competitiveness as an international metropolis. A city's ability to compete, to a great extent, rests on the talent pool it has.

Reports indicate that the new policy has been warmly embraced, with applications swamping local personnel departments. The first batch of "green cards" are expected to be issued in the middle of this month.

A working residence enables holders to buy cars and low-price houses, be covered by basic medical and pension insurances, and send their children to public schools without additional charges.

Under the pressure of a huge population to supply a need for capable workers, Beijing needs to enact this policy.

The capital city has been blamed for lagging behind its counterparts, such as Shanghai and Shenzhen of Guangdong Province, in luring talent since those areas adopted more flexible household registration systems much earlier.

The registration policy, a legacy of the planned economic system, used to strictly limit mobility. The country's transition to a market economy, starting from the late 1970s, created opportunities for outsiders to work or do business in a city, but they were denied equal access to work, education, housing and social welfares enjoyed by local residents.

For the more than 3 million transient people working or doing business in Beijing, to be registered as a city resident is a dream comes true.

There are many cases that individuals, crucial to Beijing's economic development, have chosen to leave because of the absence of official residence rights and the subsequent problems for their children's education and other inconveniences.

The rigid system, which was introduced in 1958, has been under fierce criticism for creating inequalities, and for not being in parallel with the development of a market economy.

It has not been in function in fact in many smaller cities and economically better off southern and coastal areas. Yet for big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai an official residence still makes a vast difference.

It is worrying that in a metropolis like Beijing, boasting 11 million permanent residents and 3 million transient people, an abrupt complete relaxation of the previous policy would result in chaos. The expected potential flood of new residents and its effect on population growth goes beyond what natural resources and infrastructure facilities can sustain at this point.

People have been petitioning for an absolute free flow of human resources, but when conditions are not ripe yet, a neutral position is a better choice.

(China Daily July 7, 2003)