Chinese citizens who lack identification cards and household registration have tallied to at least 13 million.
The members of this populace, who are said to be "living in the shadows," have been deprived of many privileges and rights such as attending public schools or universities, receiving insurance, and even finding a job or getting married.
Of the figure, around 7.8 million are forbidden births under the country's one-child family planning policy.
Twenty-two-year-old Li Xue, a resident of Dongcheng District in Beijing, is one of them. He was thought to be an eligible second child as both of his parents are handicapped.
"I have no rights and sometimes I even doubt whether I really exist," Li said.
As their family tried to get him an ID card and a household registration, his parents flocked to different departments. What they have gotten, four months later, is an instruction from the sub-district family planning commission to pay a 5,000 yuan fine known as the social maintenance fee.
Nonetheless, a household registration regulation established over five decades ago notes that all babies should be registered without additional conditions.
A joint regulation from the Ministry of Public Security and the National Health and Family Planning Commission released in 1998 states that local governments are prohibited from linking household registration with the issuance of a certificate showing the payment of a social maintenance fee.
According to an official from Shandong's family planning commission who requested for anonymity, the act of asking for such fee is an unavoidable behavior to implement the country's family planning policy.
The Chinese government said it is stepping up its efforts to improve the family planning policy. Last October, it has announced that all couples are now allowed to have a second child.