China's household registration system, or hukou, is similar to an internal passport. It's a tool for city management and population control. Recently, a growing number of cities have eased hukou restrictions to attract more talent, triggering a new battle among different parts of China. CGTN's Wu Lei has more.

29-year-old Zhu Qi has worked in an internet company in Hangzhou for 2 years. Due to restrictions, she hasn't been able to transfer the hukou from her hometown to Hangzhou. But now she is able to settle down in the city.

ZHU QI HANGZHOU NON-HUKOU RESIDENT "After giving birth to my son, I realized that without a Hangzhou hukou, my son can't go to public school and enjoy local social insurance. Our whole family will be affected."

China has used the hukou system to document the personal information of citizens and grant them local benefits since 1958. But, experts say greater levels of urbanization require deeper structural reform.

PROFESSOR CHEN LIJUN ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY "The mechanism was designed to boost the development of cities, the government made it. But now, if we continue to follow the past hukou system, it will block the free flow of people."

Hangzhou has now announced that it will grant permanent residency to migrants with college education. Many other cities like Xi'an, Wuhan and Suzhou have taken similar measures to attract talented people to further improve urbanization.

WU LEI HANGZHOU "China's hukou system has long limited rural-urban mobility. But now, as more cities aim to boost economic growth, easing restrictions to attract talent has become a fresh priority."

China has announced that smaller cities with a population of around 1 million will lift restrictions entirely. Those with a population of around 5 million will ease limitations. This aims to increase China's urbanization rate by at least 1 percentage point by the end of the year. But Professor Chen says the hukou system is expected to be replaced entirely one day and cities need to create a better environment to attract talent in the long run.

PROFESSOR CHEN LIJUN ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY "Cities which have a more open, comprehensive and efficient environment will be more attractive to talented people. Hukou is a limited way to achieve this. Talented people will always follow the market."

With the relaxed restrictions, Zhu Qi will soon become an official Hangzhou resident. But she expects more reforms to the current hukou system, so more migrants can enjoy a better quality of life in the cities they like. WL, CGTN, HZ.