China plans to help an estimated 100 million people without urban ID records settle in towns and cities by 2020, the State Council, China's cabinet, said on July 30.

It issued a circular aimed at accelerating reform of the nation's household registration, or hukou system.

The document said the government will remove the limits on hukou registration in townships and small cities, relax restrictions in medium-sized cities, and set qualifications for registration in big cities.

At a press conference on that day, Vice Public Security Minister Huang Ming said differentiated approaches will be applied in the hukou system, based on the size and population of a city.

Medium-sized cities with a population between 1 million-3 million will have a low threshold, while megacities with more than 5 million residents will try to strictly control the influx of new citizens.

People wishing to settle in megacities like Beijing and Shanghai will have to qualify through a "points system" based on their seniority in employment, their accommodation and social security, according to Huang.