Shenzhen should increase the population with hukou to 6 million in the next two or three years, according to Yu Xiping, a member of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Yu's proposal became the No. 1 of 104 proposals handed to the city's advisory body this year, who met Thursday.

In his proposal, Yu said the city's total population last year reached about 10 million, which included 1.65 million residents with hukou, more than 4.32 million people who had lived temporarily in the city for more than one year and more than 4 million less than one year.

Since the hukou population only made up 13.8 percent of the city's total, the distinction between hukou residents and non-hukou residents had led to a series of social problems such as public security and renovation of urban villages in the city, Yu said.

Yu advised the city government change its current hukou management policy through legislature and enlarge the city's hukou population to 6 million to meet the needs of the city's industrial restructure.

According to Yu, those people with a stable living place, a stable job, or directly related family members living in the city would be eligible for obtaining the city's hukou.

During the past five years, the Third Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the CPPCC had received a total of 3,246 proposals from its members.

To date, these proposals have been transferred to more than 80 government departments and institutions, of which 90.7 percent have been answered.

At its opening ceremony Thursday, the First Session of the Fourth Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the CPPCC commended 39 proposals submitted last year and 10 government bodies for their effective responses to these proposals.

(Shenzhen Daily May 27, 2005)