China's sheer size and population renders much demographic understanding tied to locality, and there is often little life movement outside of a citizen's province of birth.
Treatment of ethnic minorities and Han Chinese regional groups can hinge on preferential assumptions based on places of upbringing, and is often most pronounced towards those born external to urban zones.
When Chinese migrants settle in a new region, local residents can develop social attitudes and prejudgments based on the newcomer's place of birth.
[1] Currently, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) defines regionalism as adverse action or negative attitudes against another based on their home province.
As the quantity and the quality of universities vary greatly across China, it is argued that students face discrimination during the admission process based on their region.
[6] After the Communist Party took power of mainland China, the Chinese government began using the family register system to control the movement of people between urban and rural areas.
Urban dwellers enjoyed a range of social, economic and cultural benefits, and China's 800 million rural residents were treated as second-class citizens.
[7] The millions of people who have left village life remain stuck at the margins of urban society and have been blamed for issues of rising crime and unemployment.
The reasons for discrimination include having the largest farmer population in China, the huge number of rural workers migrating to cities, and the continuous emigration of refugees and victims from natural calamities and political tragedies in the 20th century.
[19][better source needed] Besides that, there is also discriminatory laws that require southern provinces in general to have to pay fines at higher rates (in relation to local income levels) for going against China's family planning policies, than their northern counterparts.
[21] In 2013, the death of a 25-year-old female mainlander who was hit by a truck near Quarry Bay drew abusive and anti-mainland comments on sites like Facebook, HKGolden, and Apple Daily.
Hong Kong surveys indicated mainland Chinese speaking Cantonese were mocked due to their accents, denied work opportunities, and suffered mental health issues.