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Migrant workers in China

Migrant workers in China
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Migrant workers in China. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
China economy

Opinion | China’s economic shift may hinge on what migrant workers do next

Where migrant workers go, what sectors they serve and how many stay employed will shape whether productivity gains go beyond the most advanced sectors.

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China's economic recovery

China expands migrant workers’ access to public services

China consumption

Beijing urged to boost rural pensions as lawmakers fight for farmers’ fair share

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Trending in China

Left-behind Chinese girl’s US$120 farewell gift to migrant parents touches hearts

Thoughtful 10-year-old saves up her lai see money then hands it to migrant worker mum and dad as they prepare to leave home.

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A 10-year-old girl in China has moved many people online with a farewell note to her migrant worker parents, offering them US$120 of her lai see money to treat themselves. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin
South Korea

Seoul tightens migrant language screening over safety concerns

A rise in worksite accidents involving poor comprehension of safety instructions is driving the shift as South Korea increasingly relies on foreign labour.

China economy

Opinion | China’s real constraint is where to direct limited fiscal resources

With Beijing focusing on spending priorities, Asian investors and businesses must watch which provinces, sectors and state firms are favoured.

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China economy

Opinion | Time for China to set an explicit household consumption target

As Beijing’s five-year plan shapes up to follow a familiar agenda, policymakers need to focus on invigorating the consumer’s role as a more powerful driver of growth.

Visitors select blind boxes at a cultural industries fair in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on May 22. Photo: Xinhua
China society

My Take | China’s pension system needs an overhaul since it is not fair nor sustainable

The country’s pension system has become unsustainable because of the shrinking labour force and ageing society.

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Urban planning

China’s dated urban-development model must change, Beijing says at rare meeting

Amid property and urbanisation woes, China needs to ‘proactively adapt to changing circumstances’ and transform its approach to city planning, leadership says at Central Urban Work Conference.

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China economy

Opinion | More of China’s spending power needs to be unleashed. Here’s how

Childcare, healthcare and elderly care are precisely the parts of China’s consumer demand that remain significantly untapped.

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People visit a popular shopping district near Jingan Temple in Shanghai on October 12. Photo: AP
China food security

China sees ‘strong agriculture’ in its future with rural modernisation plans

By 2035, China will have ‘basically achieved’ agricultural modernisation, and rural residents will have ‘basically met modern living conditions’, Beijing’s new plan says.

Rural Chinese residents mark the start of spring farming last month in the Tibet autonomous region. Photo: Xinhua
China's population

China’s workers flock to Shenzhen and Hangzhou as talent war heats up

The two tech hubs saw their populations swell in 2024, defying China’s broader demographic decline.

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Lunar New Year

China boosts train and bus services as workers cut Lunar New Year travels short

Chinese provinces launch extra transport services as migrant workers return to coastal cities to get a leg up in sluggish job market.

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China's population

How will plans for China’s rural areas adapt to shrinking populations?

Annual national rural work conference sets out priorities for rural planning and construction as urbanisation gathers pace.

Migrant workers attend a farewell ceremony at Qujing North Railway Station in Yunnan province in February. Photo: VCG via Getty Images
China’s Communist Party

Chinese county grapples with how to reward workers for difficult, low-level jobs

Report finds frontline workers overwhelmed leaving ‘little time or energy for systematic learning or professional development’.

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A county in China’s eastern Jiangsu province is looking at how best to attract workers in the social affairs sector after witnessing a shortage of talent. Photo: AFP
China jobs

Wary of ‘vicious’ events, China makes migrant worker arrears a priority

Social harmony takes centre stage after high-profile killings, and China’s cabinet says the unpaid salaries of migrant labourers require political action.

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China's population

Chinese cities ease residency requirements as ‘war for people’ heats up

City governments have adopted a ‘hukou for home’ strategy as the competition for talent intensifies.

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Children in China

China to build migrant children database to improve welfare and services

National action plan meant to ease the plight of these children, particularly the disabled and those without guardians

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China is compiling a database of children whose parents leave their hometown for long stretches in search of work. Photo: EPA
China education

China’s urban-rural gap is a threat to growth. Is the divide too wide to fix?

Researchers report waning optimism about social mobility among rural Chinese as education disparities create obstacles for economy.

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Social media

China’s ‘self-taught philosopher’ finds viral fame brings mixed blessings

Former factory worker Chen Zhi reflects on new life as a ‘brain worker’, his first published translation and facing his online critics.

US immigration

Inside Out | Fear of migrants needlessly inflaming tensions around global elections

International migration is a force for good that developed economies need, despite the protests of xenophobes and populists.

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A refugee stands in front of a tent at a camp inside the UN-controlled buffer zone that divides the north part of the Turkish-occupied area from the south Greek Cypriots at the Aglantzia area in Nicosia, Cyprus, on August 9. In a world where developed economies face dire demographic challenges, international migrants are likely to play a key role in continued economic growth. Photo: AP
China's population

Far from farms: China aims to energise economy with new urbanisation action plan

A five-year undertaking could see 70 per cent of all Chinese settled in large cities, with newly granted urban-residency status and benefits, to expand domestic demand and industrial upgrades.

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As of last year, slightly more than 66 per cent of China’s 1.4 billion people lived in urban areas, and leadership wants that percentage to reach 70 per cent in five years. Photo: AFP
China’s third plenum

How China’s ‘breakthrough’ rural land reform could be a cash cow for farmers

Looking to give China’s economy a jolt, Beijing’s third plenum featured long-awaited plans that could make rural resources more valuable and address the rural-urban income gap.

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China property

As localities change their rules, is the end of China’s hukou system in sight?

As China’s local governments test changes to their household registration systems to entice homebuyers, some analysts have suggested this presages a national-level policy change.

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China's population

Chinese counties took 2 billion yuan from school meal funds to repay debt: audit

More than 100 counties involved in wrongdoing, State Council audit report tracking school meal subsidies for rural students finds.

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Providing meals at school in poorer areas have been shown to improve not only nutrition levels but cognitive abilities, academic performance and class enrolment rates as well. China introduced its rural school meal plan in 2011. Photo: Xinhua
Trending in China

Row over China migrant worker living in tiny Shanghai cabinet for US$7 a month

An online “misinformation” controversy has been sparked after a viral video emerged of a migrant worker in China living in a tiny “cabinet” room in Shanghai, a city with some of the country’s most expensive rental properties.

A tiny living space occupied by a migrant worker in China has sparked dismay on mainland social media amid an ongoing official crackdown on internet misinformation. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin
Transport and logistics

China trade union and Logory Logistics sign truck drivers to collective contract

This marks the domestic freight transport industry’s first attempt to cover truckers’ rights on a nationwide scale.

China economy

China’s sluggish property sector may be shifting migrant worker demographics

Over-50s now make up almost a third of China’s vast migrant workforce, while the number aged under 30 has dropped over the past five years

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