Hunan, the hometown of the revolutionary leader Mao Zedong (1893-1976) in Central China, is eyewitnessing another revolution.

The revolution, officially called the "reform of the registered residence system," which abolishes the decades-old distinction between rural and urban residents, is not only limited to Hunan. The northeastern province of Jilin, the southern province of Guangdong and the eastern province of Fujian have all declared that they want to extinguish the identity disparity between rural and urban residents.

Yet experts have said that this revolution is far from toppling the current residence system, which has legally separated farmers and town residents for about five decades.

"The factual barrier for farmers who would like to move to live permanently in big cities remains very high," said Bai Nansheng, a senior researcher with the Rural Economy Research Centre under the Ministry of Agriculture.

Bai's remark came when Hunan and the country's other provinces released their new residence rules. The main contents of these rules include the abolishment of the original title "agricultural population," or "non-agricultural population" in the registration book, permission for farmers working in towns or small cities to become local permanent residents and lower conditions for skilled workers to move into major cities.

Before the current move, the State had abrogated the grain and oil supply certification in May, which used to ensure cheap grain supplies to urban residents. Several major cities like Shijiazhuang and Ningbo also loosened their admission conditions for out-of-town people last year.

But Bai said that most reform measures are nothing more than the recognition of a factual situation.

Each year, more than 200 million farmers come to work in towns and cities and return to their rural homes in the off season. It has become gradually natural for those with skills to migrate to big cities.

Although most Chinese farmers have longed for the status of urban residents, registered residences in towns and small cities have gradually become unattractive to them, as work opportunities are few. Even in big cities like Shijiazhuang, less than 20,000 people applied for registered residence in the first weeks of Shijiazhuang's adoption of the registration reform, while the city government had predicted the number would surpass 200,000.

"Behind a thin registration book exists a complicated administration system concerning farmers' arable land-use rights, their welfare, and their children's education," said Dong Xiaolin, a sociology professor with Guangzhou-based Zhongshan University. "Without the adjustment of the whole system, farmers' urban relocation remains difficult."

What farmers are most concerned with is whether their land-use rights in the countryside can be contained if they are granted urban residence.

If the welfare system that urban residents currently enjoy with regards to education and social security is expanded to newly "urbanized" farmers, lots of additional investment is needed, which could go beyond local means.

Zhou Qiren, an agricultural economist with Peking University, suggested that farmers be offered the property rights of the land they currently plow. Farmers willing to live and work in cities can sell the land to be able to afford their social security.

But given the State's repeated stress to keep intact the current household responsibility system, which allots land among villagers, it is almost impossible to allow farmers to trade the land they plow.

It is also of great concern that a relaxation of the residence system could lead to a massive flow of rural residents to cities, increasing urban residents' employment pressure.