Ningbo and Zhoushan, two cities in Zhejiang province, have upgraded their household registration (hukou) services, allowing residents to apply for household registration in both cities since Oct 12, 2020.

The change is part of efforts to simplify household registration procedures for residents.

Ningbo's Jiangbei district and Zhoushan's Putuo district have been piloting the cross-city hukou service since April 15 this year.

According to Ningbo's public security bureau, the Jiangbei household registration service center has successfully handled over 300 applications from Ningbo and Zhoushan residents. Ningbo and Zhoushan therefore decided to expand the service citywide, allowing citizens of Ningbo and Zhoushan to submit hukou applications at any of the 17 public security service offices, rather than returning to the original place-of-issue of their hukou.

The cross-city hukou service now covers 33 hukou-related items, accounting for 67.3 percent of the total hukou-related services. Six items, including the renewal and reissuance of ID cards, can be approved immediately, while 25 items, including the renewal and reissuance of household registration booklets, require remote approval.

For example, a Zhoushan citizen who lives in Ningbo and wants to renew or reissue his/her household registration booklet can submit their application in Ningbo. The application information will be transmitted to Zhoushan's public security service offices for approval and the entire process will be completed within half an hour. Ningbo's public security authority will then issue the booklet.