The collective hukou in urban China

This research note explains the important, somewhat unknown, hukou category: the collective hukou (jiti hukou, or jthk) in urban China. We first briefly explain the hukou terminology and operations of the jthk, then analyze its origin, highlighting its close relationship with the work unit (danwei) system in Mao's era. The note then examines different types of jthk introduced since the early 1980s to address new questions created by the separation of the hukou and the danwei systems. Our discussion seeks to shed light on complexities of the changes in the hukou system that functions and affects urban society, social geography, especially in relation to migrants who have college education.