Guangzhou will take the lead in the southern province to scrap rural hukou, or household registration system, which prevents farmers from enjoying many rights and advantages enjoyed by their urban peers.

According to a notice issued by Guangzhou city government, household registration departments in the capital of Guangdong province have asked all the local residents to change their residence booklets to identify them as only permanent Guangzhou residents starting this week.

The move will safeguard the employment rights, education, social security, pension and other legal interest of the farmers, said the notice published on the official website of the city government.

Meanwhile, the new hukou system will help Guangzhou attract more talents from around the country.

The city's rural districts of Huadu, Conghua, Zengcheng and Nansha will benefit the most from new hukou system, the notice said.

According to the city's blueprint, Guangzhou's hukou population will be increased to more than 9.2 million by 2020.

To achieve this, Guangzhou will lower its threshold for people from outside the city to become Guangzhou residents who have the city's hukou in the coming years, said the notice.