Parents renting homes in Beijing will have an opportunity to send their children to local schools under a government proposal that stands to transform the lives of migrant families whose offspring are currently educated in their hometowns.

根据一项政府新政征求意见稿，在北京租房的家长们将有机会让他们的孩子在本地入学。该新政将让一些外来人口家庭的生活发生重大变化，目前这些家庭的孩子们在他们的家乡上学。

The plan, designed to cool property prices in China’s top cities and avert¹ further pressure on the country’s debt-laden financial system, will remove what is now one of the biggest incentives² for migrants to buy rather than rent.

该计划旨在为中国一线城市的房地产价格降温，并避免对中国负债累累的金融体系造成进一步的压力，它将消除目前外来人口家庭买房而非租房的最大动机之一。

Currently, migrants working and renting in Beijing lack a local hukou — the household registration³ stamp that enables them to use public services such as health and education. Many of their children attend schools in their parents’ hometowns, often thousands of kilometres away.

就目前而言，一些在北京工作并租房居住的外来人口没有北京户口——户口是能够让人们使用医疗和教育等公共服务的户籍登记证明。他们的孩子有很多在往往距北京上千公里以外的家乡上学。

Alternatively, migrants can secure a Beijing school place by buying a home in the capital and meeting other criteria⁴. This has fuelled property prices in the capital where prices have risen almost 10 per cent over the past year. But under the draft policy, released last week, migrants renting would be eligible⁵ for a school place if they meet certain criteria.

或者，外来人口在北京买房并符合其他条件后也可以让他们的孩子在北京上学。这推升了北京房价——北京房价在过去一年里上涨了近10%。但按照上周发布的新政征求意见稿，外来人口如果满足特定条件，子女就可以在北京上学。

Describing the move as “highly significant”, Shen Jianguang, chief economist⁶ at investment group Mizuho Securities Asia, said: “It will reduce the need to purchase at any cost, which will gradually change people’s attitudes and reduce housing speculation⁷.”

投资集团瑞穗证券亚洲(Mizuho Securities Asia)的首席经济学家沈建光认为此举“意义重大”，他说：“它将降低人们不惜一切代价买房的必要性，这将逐渐改变人们的态度，并减少住房投机。”

Following several rounds of measures to cool the market, home price growth in China’s major cities has slowed, according to official statistics released on Friday. Prices of Beijing’s commercially-sold residential⁸ housing fell 0.1 per cent compared with the previous month, but were still up 9.6 per cent year on year.

上周五发布的官方统计数据显示，在政府出台为房地产市场降温的数轮措施之后，中国各大城市的房价增长放缓。北京商品住宅价格环比下降0.1%，但同比仍上涨了9.6%。

Beijing’s proposal could affect those living in up to 1.5m rental⁹ properties — each of which can hold dozens of people in dormitories — according to figures from Lianjia House Agency, one of the city’s top property rental platforms. Officials and analysts¹⁰ describe the market as an under-developed “wild west”.

北京的新政可能影响那些租房居住的人们，据北京最大的房地产租赁平台之一链家网(Lianjia House Agency)的数据显示，北京有多达150万套房屋出租，每套房作为宿舍可以容纳十多人居住。官员们和分析师们将这一市场描述为发展不足的“狂野西部”。

Of the capital’s 22m residents, two-thirds lack the coveted¹¹ hukou status that gives them full rights as citizens — most importantly, access to state pensions, public hospitals and local schools.

在北京的2200万居民当中，三分之二没有令人羡慕的户口，这让他们无法享受本地市民的全部权利，其中最重要的是领取养老金、享受医保以及在当地入学。

Although attempts have been made to reform the hukou system, major cities have previously¹² been exempted¹³. Instead, Beijing has been tough on migrants, seeing them as overcrowding the city, recently launching a population-capping policy that was designed to chase out migrant workers.

尽管政府已经努力改革户口制度，但这些措施早先没有在主要城市推行。实际上，北京对外来人口非常严厉，认为他们导致城市过度拥挤，最近还发布了旨在驱逐外来务工人员的人口上限政策。

Across China, 250m migrant workers are locked out of local public services by the hukou system, meaning that millions of children must live far from their parents.

在中国各个城市，2.5亿外来务工人员因户口制度而无法享受当地的公共服务，这意味着数百万儿童无法与他们的父母生活在一起。

Last month the national government issued a statement naming 12 pilot cities for testing out pro-rental policies, and also urged state-owned enterprises to fund and establish more home rental companies.

上月，中国政府发布文件，选取了12个城市作为住房租赁试点，同时还敦促国有企业提供融资并设立更多的住房租赁公司。

Following the national announcement, Guangzhou, a manufacturing hub in south China, recently issued a similar rental policy to Beijing’s, helping¹⁴ migrant workers who rent.

在中央政府发布文件之后，华南地区的制造业中心广州最近发布了类似于北京的住房租赁政策，帮助外来务工人员租房居住。