In the Chinese urban labour market, the hukou system has long been an
important institutional barrier in preventing rural labour from taking up
urban occupations. Most migrants can find jobs only at the lower end of
occupation queues, and this results in a hukou-based segregated labour
market. As market-oriented reform expands further to most urban
industries, more and more jobs are open to both rural and local residents.
The 2000 census data for Wuhan city indicate that outside workers are
most active and more flexible with regard to industrial structural changes.
The current segregation pattern has not been changed: outside and local
workers are channelled into different industrial strata as before. There is
still a long way to go in forming an integrated urban labour market and,
consequently, an integrated society