hukou

From Mandarin, 戶口／户口 (hùkǒu).

• IPA^(key): /ˈhuːˌkoʊ/, /ˌhuːˈkoʊ/

hukou (plural hukous or hukou)

1. (China, Taiwan) A household registration record that identifies a person as a local resident.
   • 2008 April 6, Howard W. French, “Single Mothers in China Forge a Difficult Path”, in New York Times‎:

     But now, a new awareness of the issue is raising questions about the status of women in China, as well as other rights issues like the hukou, or residency permit, a central tool of population control passed down from the Maoist era that restricts movement by linking people to the towns of their birth.