With 916 yuan (US$131) in hand, 45-year-old construction worker Li Hongxing felt relief, although he had recovered only 80 percent of the money that was a year late.

Li left his farm in southwestern Sichuan Province more than 10 years ago and came to the nation's capital to seek a better life. He was working at a construction site in Beijing's Fengtai District in April last year, but his employer refused to pay him, saying he was short of money.

Li feels lucky to be a success story for the project "Enhancing Legal Aid Service for Migrant Workers in China" when others are still owed back pay.

To help protect these workers' rights, 21 legal aid stations have been set up nationwide to provide free legal assistance, including legal consultations and case presentations. The network will eventually expand to all provincial capital cities and mid-sized cities.

The offices have launched law awareness campaigns among migrant workers and distributed brochures encouraging them to seek legal aid to protect their rights. As of the end of March, nearly 150,000 rural migrant workers had sought aid from the stations, according to statistics from the China Legal Aid Foundation.

But those cases are just the tip of the iceberg, said lawyer Shi Fumao, who works at the Beijing Legal Aid Working Station. In Shi's office, 16 lawyers work day and night but still can't help all the migrants who turn to them.

Migrant laborers, whose number is estimated at 210 million, have become a pillar of the country's work force, but they face problems that involve pay disputes, work injury compensation, health care and education of their children.

China has no clear system to define who should bear responsibility when migrant workers' rights are violated, said Shi. These workers often don't know where to seek help.

"Although the awareness of legal rights among Chinese migrant workers has risen in recent years, it is still difficult for them to protect their rights," he said. With so many rural people seeking employment, many waive their rights to get a job.

(Xinhua News Agency May 4, 2008)