Beijing residents who live in State-owned and managed bungalows who voluntarily move their hukou, or registered resident's permit, from the city's downtown area will be rewarded, according to municipal housing authorities.
The rewards will be agreed upon by Xicheng and Dongcheng district governments and set separately, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said on Tuesday.
The authority further outlined its policy interpretation of guidelines concerning the evacuation, renovation and management of State-owned and managed bungalows on historical and cultural blocks in Beijing's central area.
Residents' decisions whether to relocate their hukou will be made on a voluntary basis, it said.
Residents with Beijing hukou who live in self-built houses long-term but don't own a house in the city themselves, their spouses and children, and those who voluntarily demolish their self-built houses and transfer their hukou from the city center will be given priority to rent public houses in the area, said the commission.
Beijing is shifting some of its administrative functions out of the city center into sub-center Tongzhouto to manage the so-called 'big city disease'.
Problems in urban areas such as air pollution, traffic congestion and a shortage of public services have been caused by rapid population growth in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.
Figures released by the municipal statistics bureau on Wednesday show that Beijing's permanent residency rate dropped 0.8 percent to 21.54 million by the end of 2018, the second consecutive year of negative year-on-year growth.
According to the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), permanent residents of Beijing should not exceed 23 million.
