Hukou plays an important role in Chinese society as it allows the bearer access to state education and healthcare. (Photo : Getty Images)
Plenty of Chinese living in Sichuan Province are demanding for DNA tests after the State Council implemented a national policy change, China Daily.
The directive, which was issued last month, instructs all regional governments to require documents or processes that will grant unregistered residents household registration, commonly known as hukou.
According to the latest national census data, 1 percent of China's 13 million population are unregistered.
Detailed rules for implementation have yet to be disclosed by the State Council, but the public widely speculates that DNA paternity testing will play an integral part in their hukou applications.
Several regional governments have also formulated their own implementation rules, which led to the "steep rise in testing cases around the country," according to Wu Feng, chariman of Chengdu Forensic Expertise Association.
In anticipation, people have already filed for DNA requests in several scientific institutes. One such case is Genegle Forensic in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The institute received plenty of requests during the Spring Festival holiday that required their employees to work round the clock.
Over the holiday, the clinic carried out 40 paternity tests and accommodated over 300 calls of inquiry, according to Chengdu Commercial Daily. There have also been over 100 DNA tests carried out in Chengdu since mid-January.
One factor that can lead to the disqualification of an individual's hukou application is whether or not he was born in violation of the infamous one-child law, which the country lifted last year. Prior to the relaxation of the policy, parents who are having second children are required to pay a fine in order to register them legally.
Other children who face a similar issue are those born out of wedlock or weren't issued a legal birth certificate. They are called "black" children by the media.
Hukou plays an important role in Chinese society as it allows the bearer access to state education and healthcare. Those without hukou often find trouble in formal employment, marriage and bank applications.
