A staff member checks the information of a passenger entering China at the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, east China, March 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

Authorities in Fuzhou city, East China's Fujian Province have refuted rumors that they will cancel the house registration of Chinese people who reside overseas.

This comes after information circulated on the Internet saying that Chinese nationals who have settled down overseas will have to cancel their Fuzhou hukou (household registration) as the city carries out a clearance of the household registration system to prepare for the seventh national census.

The policy only applies to Chinese who have obtained overseas citizenship as China doesn't recognize dual nationality and it will not affect Chinese nationals who live overseas with Chinese passports and travel permits, Fuzhoufabu, the official Weibo account of the municipal government, said on Thursday.

The news triggered wide discussion among Chinese internet users.

"The policy comes just in time to plug the loophole among those who have obtained dual nationality," said a comment by an internet user named gaofeigengzheng.

"The crackdown on those who enjoy dual nationality should extend to other provinces," said a netizen named aibingxiaobaozi.

Many local public security bureaus also mentioned the cancellation of household registration for overseas Chinese in preparation for the upcoming national census, which will start in November.

According to a document issued by Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau in July, those who have settled in a foreign country and acquired foreign citizenship should go to the public security authority to go through the formalities for cancellation of their household registration.

Qingdao, in East China's Shandong Province also asked those who reside overseas to complete the procedures for cancellation of household registration before August 20, according to a statement issued by the Qingdao Public Security Bureau in June.

As early as in 2018, Shanghai announced similar policies in an amendment to its household management regulations. 

"Those who have obtained foreign nationality or reside overseas need to have their household registration cancelled at a local public security office," the regulation stated.

However, the Shanghai police explained that it will not impose forced cancelation on Chinese who reside overseas as the current Exit and Entry Administration Law does not give a concrete legal definition of the group, Xinhua reported in 2018.

A notice issued by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council in 2009 clarified that Chinese citizens settling abroad refers to Chinese citizens who have obtained long-term or permanent residency permits in an overseas country, and who have stayed in the country of residence for two consecutive years, with a cumulative stay of not less than 18 months.  

Global Times