Urbanization in China is not only an economic process of development, but also a formal process of transferring individuals from rural to urban status in the household registration  system,  or hukou.  Individuals  integrating  into  the  urban  system  must give up their rural or non-local status, like changing citizenship, which also means giving  up  the  rights  endowed  in  their  previous  status,  such  as  welfare  in  place  of origin and land-use rights while gaining urban-based rights.