The government should take concrete steps to protect the rights
of rural migrant workers as China's urbanization drive gathers
speed, experts said yesterday.
Although migrant workers from rural areas have become the
backbone of many cities' economic activities, taking on most of the
low-level positions, current policy barriers against them have
actually backfired and are impacting urbanization, according to
researchers who produced this year's annual report on urban
development for the China Mayors' Association.
In some parts of the country, discriminatory policies have
prevented migrants from integrating into city society. They are
often treated like second-class citizens in terms of employment,
social welfare, healthcare and education.
For example, migrant workers are not usually granted permanent
residence in certain cities no matter how long they have lived
there.
They are also not protected by the same minimum wage laws as
their urban counterparts.
"It's a problem the government must address as migrants have
already become an integral part of the cities," said Niu Wenyuan,
head of a research panel that completed the annual report.
Statistics indicate that nearly 90 million of China's 110
million rural surplus laborers have already moved into urban
areas.
In Shanghai, migrants account for 25.6 percent of the total
population while in Beijing the figure is 33.7 percent.
In some coastal regions, the proportions are even higher.
Nearly half the population of Zhuhai and Guangzhou, in South
China's Guangdong Province, are migrants.
"Farmers-turned-workers can contribute more to cities if they
are freed from policy shackles," said Jiang
Zhenghua, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress, at a launch ceremony for the annual
report.
The expert panel predicted that China's urbanization rate would
rise from the current 40 percent to 75 percent by 2050, when the
population in cities and towns reaches between 1.1 -1.2
billion.
(China Daily June 24, 2005)