Tianjin's change of policy highlights growing demand for skilled workers

LAST WEEK, Tianjin lowered its hukou (household registration) threshold for newcomers. In the past weekend, more than 300,000 people became new citizens of the second largest city in North China. Beijing News comments:

It was beyond expectations that Tianjin, one of the four provincial-level municipalities directly under the central government's administration that had strict hukou requirements, should suddenly reduce them to two, namely applicants should be under the age of 40 and have a bachelor's degree at least.

The two requirements mean Tianjin has de facto opened its door to the more than 7 million college graduates each year, regardless of whether they can secure a job in the city, which used to be the decisive factor in applying for the city's hukou.