Rural residents remain reluctant to register in cities

Dong Aibing works in Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province, but he was born in a village called Daijiabao near the city.

The 44-year-old holds rural hukou, but thanks to his job at a kindergarten in Taiyuan, he bought a 130-square-meter apartment in the city three years ago.

Reform of the household registration system in recent years means Dong now has the right to register in the district where he bought his real estate and change his hukou from rural to urban, but he has declined to do so.