Beginning March 1, rural migrant workers in Chengdu, capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province will join local citizens in enjoying social insurance designed to protect their legitimate interests.

According to a new provisional regulation, migrant labor, once employed in Chengdu, must be provided an insurance package which covers pension allowances, reimbursement of medical costs and compensation for unexpected losses such as industrial injuries.

The premium must be jointly paid by the insured and their employers, which include governmental administrative institutions, social societies, urban and township enterprises and non-public and privately owned small enterprises.

Due to the household registration system adopted in 1958, Chinese farmers have long been confined to their farmland and have little access to the social insurance system designed for urban dwellers.

Zhou Yuanhong, director of the city's Social Security Bureau in charge of the insurance transactions, said a penalty clause has been written into the regulation to prevent employers from infringing on rural migrant laborers' legitimate interests.

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2003)