ABSTRACT
Until recently, a Chinese rural-to-urban migrant worker’s citizenship was primarily seen as a matter of household registration (hukou), since these workers were excluded from China’s urban hukou system and therefore did not share in the benefits of urban citizenship. This conception of Chinese migrant worker’s citizenship is no longer entirely accurate. Using the case of the ‘points system’ implemented in Dongguan city, this article examines in detail the citizenship demands of migrant workers, the government’s responses, and the gaps between the demands and the response. Based on Dongguan’s experience, a ‘differentiated citizenship’ structure is becoming universal in Chinese cities. The development of urban citizenship for these migrant workers is along the path of ‘greater inclusion but differentiated exclusion.’
