BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- China's decades-long household registration system, which divides the population into urban and rural residents, may be reformed.

    The central government is considering a proposal from the Ministry of Public Security to scrap the two-tiered "hukou" registration system and allow freer migration between cities and the countryside, China Business News reported Wednesday.

    Citizens will be able to change registration of their "legal and settled residence", the newspaper quoted sources close to the ministry as saying.

    Under the current system set up in 1958 to control citizens' movements, rural dwellers have little chance to change their registered residence regardless of how long they may have lived or worked in the city.

    Because China's social welfare and health care systems are based on the household registration system, rural residents working in the city have little access to social welfare and suffer restrictions on access to public services such as education, medical care, housing and employment.

    Dang Guoying, a scholar with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the proposal from the public security ministry focused on the key issues.

    "But the concept of 'legal and settled residence' should be further clarified. This work can be left to local governments based on the situation in their precincts," Dang said.

    Government estimates suggest that around 120 million migrant workers have moved to cities in search of work, but the real figure could be much higher.

    In a week-long poll conducted in March by the Sina.com website and the China Youth Daily social survey center, 92 percent of the 11,168 respondents said the system was in need of reform.

    The Ministry of Public Security has also proposed to make it easier for married couples from different places to change their registered residence.

    Elderly people who have moved in with their children should also be allowed to change their registered residency, according to the proposal.

    Wang Taiyuan, a professor with the Chinese People's University of Public Security, said China has been trying to reform the household registration system since 1991. "But the reforms run into snags each time they start to affect the interests of different departments," Wang was quoted as saying.

    Despite little headway by the central government, local governments have taken steps to improve the situation.

    Early reports said twelve provincial areas, including Hebei, Liaoning, Shandong, Guangxi and Chongqing, have launched trial reforms which will put an end to the differentiation between rural and urban residents.

    Beijing, Shanghai and some cities in Guangdong Province have also loosened some of the restrictions that previously hindered people from changing their "hukou".

    Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province is also initiating trial reforms in its household registration system, and aims to have them fully implemented across the province by the end of the year.

    He Bing, a professor with China University of Political Science and Law, said the changes required were not limited to the household registration system.

    The employment, education and health care systems also needed to be reformed, He was quoted as saying, in order to counter social discrimination and inequality.