https://www.scmp.com/rss/325900/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Xinyi Wu Xinyi Wu Some Chinese lawmakers and advisers are pushing to secure higher pensions for elderly farmers, underscoring the persistent income disparity between the country’s urban and rural residents. The latest government work report, approved on Thursday, confirmed a 20-yuan (US$2.91) monthly increase to basic pension payments for a third consecutive year, bringing the national minimum to 163 yuan. However, some deputies from China’s top legislature contend that this level is inadequate. “A pension of... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3346368/chinas-rural-pensions-focus-lawmakers-fight-farmers-fair-share-amid-income-gap?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3346368/chinas-rural-pensions-focus-lawmakers-fight-farmers-fair-share-amid-income-gap?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:11 +0000 Zoey Zhang Zoey Zhang A little girl from central China has touched millions of hearts online with a handwritten farewell message and money for her parents as they left for work. Xinyu, a 10-year-old from Shangqiu, Henan province, is raised by her grandmother with her younger brother while her parents work in Suzhou, eastern China. According to mainland reports, her parents only return home once a year during the Spring Festival, which this year ran from February 15 to 23, the longest holiday in recent years. Before... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3345388/china-girl-writes-farewell-note-offers-us120-pamper-parents-highlights-left-behind-kids-lives?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3345388/china-girl-writes-farewell-note-offers-us120-pamper-parents-highlights-left-behind-kids-lives?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2026 01:00:11 +0000 The Korea Times The Korea Times South Korea is tightening Korean-language screening for incoming migrant workers under its Employment Permit System, placing greater emphasis on speaking skills amid concerns that language barriers can contribute to worksite accidents and hinder communication at factories, farms and construction sites that increasingly rely on foreign labour. The Human Resources Development Service of Korea, a public agency under the Ministry of Employment and Labour, announced on Monday that it would revise the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3342947/seoul-tightens-migrant-language-screening-over-safety-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3342947/seoul-tightens-migrant-language-screening-over-safety-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Feb 2026 11:26:25 +0000 Robin Hu Robin Hu I pay far less attention to China’s growth numbers today. What matters more is where fiscal capacity is flowing. China has entered a phase where population ageing, security needs and industrial upgrading all draw on the same budget. This shift follows a structural adjustment in property. Income from land sales – once a pillar of local government finance – has fallen sharply and is unlikely to return. Balance sheets will have to be reset. The question is no longer how much stimulus Beijing can... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3342057/chinas-real-constraint-where-direct-limited-fiscal-resources?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3342057/chinas-real-constraint-where-direct-limited-fiscal-resources?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Feb 2026 08:30:38 +0000 Stephen Roach Stephen Roach The Chinese planning season is in full swing. Ahead of the formal release of the 15th five-year plan (running from 2026 to 2030) next March, early signs coming out of the just-completed fourth plenum of the Communist Party suggest that it will be more of the same: a focus on continuing China’s extraordinary industrial and technological ascendancy, driven by what President Xi Jinping has called “new productive forces”. That would be a mistake in the following sense: China’s techno-industrial... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3330572/time-china-set-explicit-household-consumption-target?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3330572/time-china-set-explicit-household-consumption-target?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Oct 2025 08:30:08 +0000 Zhou Xin Zhou Xin Mainland China’s pension system has again become an issue of debate after the Supreme People’s Court ruled that any private agreement between employers and employees to evade payment of retirement funds was invalid. While the legal interpretation reiterated existing laws and regulations, it struck a nerve with the population and triggered doubts about the pension system’s fairness and sustainability. China’s pay-as-you-go system, which requires workers to contribute funds into a state-managed... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3321461/chinas-pension-system-needs-overhaul-because-it-neither-fair-nor-sustainable?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3321461/chinas-pension-system-needs-overhaul-because-it-neither-fair-nor-sustainable?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Aug 2025 23:00:11 +0000 Mandy Zuo,Sylvia Ma Mandy Zuo,Sylvia Ma At a surprising meeting of China’s political elite, it was declared that a sea change is needed in the nation’s urban development – shifting from a phase of large-scale, incremental expansion to one focused on optimising and enhancing existing resources. The message, coming amid a persistent real estate slump and slowing urbanisation, was delivered at the two-day Central Urban Work Conference that ended on Tuesday. In 2015, Beijing held its first such conference in decades, and it kicked off a... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3318305/chinas-dated-urban-development-model-must-change-beijing-says-rare-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3318305/chinas-dated-urban-development-model-must-change-beijing-says-rare-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:00:15 +0000 There are signs that the Chinese economy has been improving, owing to the government’s September 2024 stimulus package. Year-on-year gross domestic product growth in the first quarter of this year reached 5.4 per cent – continuing the marked acceleration from last year. In fact, the change in policy direction has been evident since late 2022, when Chinese policymakers acknowledged that falling demand was becoming a major problem. The most important cause was the real estate market, where a... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3307406/more-chinas-spending-power-needs-be-unleashed-heres-how?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3307406/more-chinas-spending-power-needs-be-unleashed-heres-how?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Apr 2025 08:30:08 +0000 Already the world’s largest producer of many farm products, China has plans to kick agriculture modernisation up a notch and become a “strong agricultural country” over the next quarter-century – invigorating rural areas as food security and a gaping rural-urban divide remain persistent challenges. The country, where most farmers still operate on a relatively small scale, aims to improve standards in farming supplies, scientific and technological equipment, and industrial resilience and... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3305670/china-sees-strong-agriculture-its-future-what-stands-modernisations-way?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3305670/china-sees-strong-agriculture-its-future-what-stands-modernisations-way?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Apr 2025 11:30:09 +0000 China’s technology hubs of Shenzhen and Hangzhou posted strong population growth in 2024, as the cities bucked the country’s broader demographic decline by attracting a wave of migrants. However, several provinces in central and western China saw their populations shrink amid an intensifying inter-regional talent war driven by the country’s ongoing population crisis. Local governments across China are beginning to release their population data for 2024, with Shenzhen and the eastern province of... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3301768/chinas-workers-flock-shenzhen-and-hangzhou-talent-war-heats?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3301768/chinas-workers-flock-shenzhen-and-hangzhou-talent-war-heats?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Mar 2025 08:00:08 +0000 Transport providers in China’s inland provinces are launching extra bus and train services as migrant workers cut their Lunar New Year travels short to get an earlier start in the sluggish job market. The number of returning travellers usually peaks on the last two days of the national holiday, which ends on Tuesday. But since Friday, several inland provinces, including Sichuan, Henan and Hubei, have organised hundreds of special buses and trains to ferry migrant workers to coastal provinces,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3297064/china-boosts-train-and-bus-services-workers-cut-lunar-new-year-travels-short?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3297064/china-boosts-train-and-bus-services-workers-cut-lunar-new-year-travels-short?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Feb 2025 10:00:14 +0000 China has pledged to make consideration of population movements a priority when allocating resources as it grapples with the twin demands of deepening urbanisation and invigorating rural areas. Local authorities should “adapt to the trend of population changes” when mapping out rural planning and construction, according to the annual national rural work conference, which convened on Wednesday, as the migration of rural residents to cities becomes a policy focus to drive flagging economic... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3291707/migration-chinas-countryside-cities-be-key-factor-resource-allocation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3291707/migration-chinas-countryside-cities-be-key-factor-resource-allocation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Dec 2024 09:00:14 +0000 Leopold Chen Leopold Chen A county in eastern China is seeking better perks for grass-roots government workers engaged in social affairs after it struggled to lure talent willing to take on the demanding jobs. The Social Work Department of the Communist Party committee in Feng county in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, attributed the shortage of talent in grass-roots government organisations to unattractive remuneration packages and a heavy workload, and called for more financial support. A report summarising the findings of a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3288717/chinese-county-grapples-how-lure-and-reward-workers-difficult-low-level-jobs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3288717/chinese-county-grapples-how-lure-and-reward-workers-difficult-low-level-jobs?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Dec 2024 08:00:14 +0000 As the year winds down, Beijing is stepping up efforts to tackle delayed payments for migrant workers and protect the interests of the nation’s grass-roots workforce, aiming to maintain social stability in turbulent economic times. The State Council, China’s cabinet, held a meeting on Tuesday to advance an action plan aimed at addressing arrears in the wages of migrant workers after a three-month dedicated campaign kicked off on November 1. “[We] need to resolutely take up the political... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3287392/wary-vicious-events-china-makes-migrant-worker-arrears-priority?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3287392/wary-vicious-events-china-makes-migrant-worker-arrears-priority?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Nov 2024 12:30:19 +0000 A fresh round of what has been called a “war for people” is spreading across China, with major cities taking it in turns to ease residency requirements amid stubbornly low fertility rates and an ongoing property market crisis. Chengdu, a southwestern metropolis with a population of 17 million – twice that of New York, will allow migrants to change their residency status as long as they buy a home in the city, according to a plan the city government released for public comment this month. In... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3283912/chinese-cities-ease-residency-requirements-war-people-heats?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3283912/chinese-cities-ease-residency-requirements-war-people-heats?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Oct 2024 02:00:24 +0000 China is setting up a nationwide database of the children of migrant workers as the country grapples with a rise in juvenile crime. The database will cover children who have been “left behind” in their hometowns while their parents work elsewhere, as well as children who have moved with their parents to other parts of the country for job opportunities. Guo Yuqiang, director of the Ministry of Civil Affairs’ Department of Child Welfare, said on Wednesday that the central government aimed to have... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3277209/china-build-migrant-children-database-improve-welfare-and-services?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3277209/china-build-migrant-children-database-improve-welfare-and-services?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Sep 2024 12:21:51 +0000 Zheng Yajun, a mainland-born PhD graduate of the University of Hong Kong, knows from personal experience how difficult it is to break through China’s urban-rural divide. Raised and educated in a remote small town in the northwestern province of Gansu, Zheng sat for the national college entrance examination twice before she was admitted to Shanghai’s prestigious Fudan University in 2009. Zheng did not find life easy at Fudan, where she struggled to understand her instructors and fellow classmates... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3275890/chinas-urban-rural-gap-threat-growth-divide-too-wide-fix?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3275890/chinas-urban-rural-gap-threat-growth-divide-too-wide-fix?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Aug 2024 22:00:13 +0000 Three years ago, Chen Zhi was a blue-collar factory worker in China. Then his posts on a philosophy forum went viral, and his whole life changed. In late 2021, he asked for advice on the social media platform Douban about how to publish his translation of an academic book on the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. His posts attracted attention from the Chinese media and internet users, who praised Chen – self-taught in both English and philosophy – for breaking stereotypes of migrant... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3275818/chinas-self-taught-philosopher-finds-viral-fame-brings-mixed-blessings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3275818/chinas-self-taught-philosopher-finds-viral-fame-brings-mixed-blessings?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Aug 2024 10:00:22 +0000 This year’s global convergence of democratic elections – with more than 80 countries worldwide testing their respective democratic systems – is likely to be dominated by one issue above all others: migration. That is not to say that inflation, economic turmoil, food and energy prices, climate change and stern audits of governmental incompetence will not also play a massive part. However, it seems that wherever you look, the issue of migration is up there among the primary drivers of controversy... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3274055/fear-migrants-needlessly-inflaming-tensions-around-global-elections?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3274055/fear-migrants-needlessly-inflaming-tensions-around-global-elections?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Aug 2024 12:30:08 +0000 China has unveiled a five-year plan to ensure that 70 per cent of its population settles down in urban areas – a push that is believed to be aimed at unleashing new demand, but which has also raised questions about its ability to truly stimulate the economy. Rural residents, who account for roughly half of the 1.4 billion Chinese population based on their permanent residence registration, or hukou, would have basically no restrictions from the originally rigid system if they want to relocate to... https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3272832/chinas-new-urbanisation-plan-aims-energise-economy-it-rash-and-impetuous?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3272832/chinas-new-urbanisation-plan-aims-energise-economy-it-rash-and-impetuous?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Aug 2024 13:00:21 +0000 China’s latest blueprint on rural land reform features a major push toward an issue that farmers and analysts have been anticipating, but which Beijing has been prudent in embracing. Through easing restrictions on the use of residential property in the countryside, farmers should be able to explore various commercial purposes to capitalise on the land. Instead of emphasising caution in this field as it had in key directives over the past decade, the Communist Part vowed to “allow farmers to... https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3271423/chinas-rural-land-reform-could-be-cash-cow-farmers-after-bold-move-third-plenum?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3271423/chinas-rural-land-reform-could-be-cash-cow-farmers-after-bold-move-third-plenum?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Jul 2024 14:00:08 +0000 A slump in China’s property market has helped remove some of the restrictions of its rigid household registration system, paving the way for a possible relaxation on labour migration at a major economic conclave. More than 20 cities have allowed people from any region of the mainland to change their official residency under a scheme known as the hukou. In China, household registration is tied to social benefits, and migrants can change their status in these localities as long as they buy a home... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3268754/chinas-property-crisis-forces-local-hukou-reform-laying-groundwork-national-change?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3268754/chinas-property-crisis-forces-local-hukou-reform-laying-groundwork-national-change?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jul 2024 01:30:15 +0000 County officials across China misappropriated at least 2.2 billion yuan (US$302.7 million) in meal subsidies meant for rural students between 2021 and 2023, a State Council audit report found. The money was mostly used to pay off local government debts, the report from China’s cabinet said. The document was made public last week during a meeting of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the country’s top legislative body. The report tracked a total of 23.1 billion yuan in subsidy... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3268639/chinese-counties-took-2-billion-yuan-rural-school-meal-subsidies-settle-local-debt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3268639/chinese-counties-took-2-billion-yuan-rural-school-meal-subsidies-settle-local-debt?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Jun 2024 12:31:07 +0000 A tiny living space occupied by a migrant worker in China has caused consternation on mainland social media amid an ongoing official clampdown on online misinformation. The 1.5-metre-long plumbing cabinet in Shanghai appears to be the rented home of a 25-year-old man who stands 1.7 metres tall, meaning he has to sleep every night with his knees bent. In a viral video on Douyin, China’s TikTok, a vlogger sought to cast doubt on the worker’s story. “Is this a drawer?” the vlogger asks as he... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3261695/misinformation-row-hits-tiny-china-cabinet-flat-where-man-sleeps-legs-bent-uses-bottle-toilet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3261695/misinformation-row-hits-tiny-china-cabinet-flat-where-man-sleeps-legs-bent-uses-bottle-toilet?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 May 2024 01:00:22 +0000 A first-of-its-kind nationwide contract for truck drivers in mainland China has been completed by Logory Logistics Technology, a Hong Kong-listed digital freight-transport platform operator, years after regulators issued guidelines aimed at protecting the rights and interests of these workers. The collective contract was initiated under the guidance of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) – which answers to the Chinese Communist Party and the only legal labour alliance in the country... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3261393/chinas-state-trade-union-and-logory-logistics-initiate-first-collective-contract-truck-drivers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3261393/chinas-state-trade-union-and-logory-logistics-initiate-first-collective-contract-truck-drivers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 May 2024 13:00:19 +0000 China’s migrant workers are getting older while their salary increases are lagging behind the general population, according to an official report. The report, published by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday, found that the average monthly salary of migrant workers rose by 3.6 per cent to 4,780 yuan (US$660) in 2023 compared with the previous year. However, this is less than the average national increase of 6.1 per cent recorded earlier this year, and is also lower than the 6 per cent... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3261150/chinas-migrant-workforce-getting-older-pay-rises-lag-behind-general-population?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3261150/chinas-migrant-workforce-getting-older-pay-rises-lag-behind-general-population?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 May 2024 06:26:06 +0000 Over the past few weeks, most local governments across China published residents’ data for 2023 that revealed new trends in domestic migrant flows. As of Monday, 29 of the mainland’s 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions – except northeastern Heilongjiang province and Tibet – had reported such data, which showed a decline in population size at two-thirds of these local administrations. While the National Bureau of Statistics already reported a 2.08 million decrease in the nation’s... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3259064/chinas-ambitious-urbanisation-efforts-draw-close-most-mainland-provinces-and-cities?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3259064/chinas-ambitious-urbanisation-efforts-draw-close-most-mainland-provinces-and-cities?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Apr 2024 23:00:32 +0000 Since the inception of China’s “reform and opening up” policy, the nation has introduced landmark reforms every decade or so. These major reforms in pursuit of national development and economic modernisation include the household contract responsibility system in 1982, the urban housing reform in 1994 and China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001. By 2021, having achieved the goal of creating a moderately prosperous society and lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3256096/how-reforming-rural-land-rights-can-aid-chinas-common-prosperity-push?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3256096/how-reforming-rural-land-rights-can-aid-chinas-common-prosperity-push?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Mar 2024 12:30:37 +0000 On March 10, a 13-year-old from a junior high school in Handan city, in China’s northern Hebei province, went missing. A day later, his body was found in an abandoned vegetable shed with injuries to his head and back. The police acted quickly. On the same day, they detained three of the victim’s classmates on suspicion of murder. The case has shocked the public. The three students, aged between 12 and 14, may be the youngest murder suspects China has seen in a long time. A police investigation... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3255988/boys-death-reminder-chinas-neglect-left-behind-children?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3255988/boys-death-reminder-chinas-neglect-left-behind-children?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Mar 2024 01:30:14 +0000 Under an unassuming WeChat profile, “Baishun Farmer’s Property”, Zhang Ming provides updates on a large and growing market. Through this account, he shares details of new village houses in suburban Shanghai that are up for sale – a real estate listings board, unexceptional in most of the world. Not so in China. Personal transactions of rural homes are strictly forbidden under the rules of property ownership. But at any given time, Zhang has information on over 400 houses scattered across the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3254951/chinas-rural-land-vast-vacant-and-not-sale-would-putting-it-market-spell-windfall-or-woe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3254951/chinas-rural-land-vast-vacant-and-not-sale-would-putting-it-market-spell-windfall-or-woe?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Mar 2024 22:00:21 +0000 China is mulling providing equal social benefits for its 300 million migrant workers, a move that would grant that group the same level of coverage as urban residents and, the country hopes, open a previously untapped repository of domestic demand – highly sought after as a means of avoiding economic slowdown. Creating incentives for migrants to settle down in cities and providing them with same entitlements would be a priority for the Chinese government this year as they represent a vast pool... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3254361/chinas-two-sessions-2024-long-awaited-reform-300-million-migrants-could-open-wellspring-demand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3254361/chinas-two-sessions-2024-long-awaited-reform-300-million-migrants-could-open-wellspring-demand?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Mar 2024 06:50:15 +0000 Many of China’s rural residents, who for years sought middle-class prosperity by becoming urban migrants, now feel trapped between two unenviable choices – stay in villages with insufficient resources, or move to population centres with dour employment prospects – a no-win situation which threatens to impede the country’s plans for rural revitalisation and its efforts to narrow the lifestyle gap. Though it has brought benefits, China’s rapid urbanisation has also led to pressing issues in rural... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3253791/chinas-rural-workers-face-bleak-choice-stay-emptying-villages-or-move-job-scarce-cities?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3253791/chinas-rural-workers-face-bleak-choice-stay-emptying-villages-or-move-job-scarce-cities?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Mar 2024 06:38:13 +0000 Although there were still four days remaining until the end of the Lunar New Year holiday earlier this month, Baiyun Railway Station in Guangzhou was already packed with migrant workers who had left their hinterland hometowns early to take up jobs in the southern manufacturing hub of Guangdong. Jobseekers of all ages, with accents from all over China, were lingering briefly at the station’s square, dragging suitcases and carrying backpacks, taking a moment to rest, before flocking to the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3253240/china-jobs-returning-migrant-workers-battling-low-salaries-lack-openings-economic-realities-hit-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3253240/china-jobs-returning-migrant-workers-battling-low-salaries-lack-openings-economic-realities-hit-home?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Feb 2024 01:00:26 +0000 Shanghai is looking to maintain uninterrupted production and kick-start economic growth by organising chartered transport to bring workers back from other provinces during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday. On the fourth day of the week-long holiday on Tuesday, the Shanghai municipal government chartered a plane to transport more than 30 workers from Yunnan province, according to Yicai, a Shanghai-based business and financial media outlet. It plans to bring 20 more batches of workers from... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3252079/shanghai-hires-planes-trains-and-automobiles-bring-workers-back-and-curb-lunar-new-year-lull?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3252079/shanghai-hires-planes-trains-and-automobiles-bring-workers-back-and-curb-lunar-new-year-lull?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Feb 2024 09:34:17 +0000 In the next few weeks, we will again witness what has been called the world’s largest annual human migration – China’s Lunar New Year holiday travel. Compared to a decade ago, the traffic radiating from China’s megacities is expected to diminish, replaced by denser intra-provincial traffic. Nearly two-thirds of China’s population live in cities today. With the nation now on the final lap of its urbanisation journey, it is vital for officials to rigorously fine-tune regional planning using... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3249376/why-china-would-be-wise-analyse-its-lunar-new-year-travel-data?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3249376/why-china-would-be-wise-analyse-its-lunar-new-year-travel-data?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Jan 2024 11:30:13 +0000 China’s southern export hub of Dongguan has announced it would issue sizeable subsidies to local enterprises over the coming two months to maintain stable production over the course of a long holiday period, mitigating disruptions and ensuring a robust start to the year. The city will offer subsidies of up to 600,000 yuan (US$84,289) each to manufacturers that maintain full-scale production for the whole of February, according to a 14-point plan released by its development and reform bureau last... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3247705/chinese-city-offers-firms-six-figure-subsidies-keep-fires-burning-new-year-holiday?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3247705/chinese-city-offers-firms-six-figure-subsidies-keep-fires-burning-new-year-holiday?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jan 2024 03:00:12 +0000 Both the number and share of workers employed in China’s primary industries rose for the first time in two decades in 2022 – a trend that may continue, analysts said, absent a solid recovery in the manufacturing and services sectors. About 176.6 million people – 24.1 per cent of the nation’s total employed – were engaged in agriculture, fishing, forestry, mining and other activities involving the extraction of natural resources in 2022, according to the 2023 China Population and Employment... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3247440/chinas-primary-sector-workforce-sees-first-increase-decades-migrants-back-farm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3247440/chinas-primary-sector-workforce-sees-first-increase-decades-migrants-back-farm?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Jan 2024 12:00:16 +0000 As it searches for new sources of growth to offset shortfalls beget by a shambling property market, China is pondering the consumption potential of rural migrants – a group so large it is more than double Japan’s entire population – though even a maximalist expansion of urban residency may only partly resolve the challenges the country presently faces. Compared to previous rounds of government intervention that boosted industrial productivity around the new millennium and turbocharged the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3247164/china-search-new-growth-drivers-considers-urban-residency-reforms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3247164/china-search-new-growth-drivers-considers-urban-residency-reforms?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Jan 2024 02:00:13 +0000 Government bodies around China have been urged to make sure migrant workers’ dues are cleared and they get paid on time, as 2023 draws to a close and the Lunar New Year holiday season nears. During a teleconference in Beijing on Thursday, State Councillor Shen Yiqin called for “severe” punishments for intentional salary delays, as she emphasised the need to protect workers’ legitimate interests. Shen oversees a task force on employment and labour protection in the State Council, China’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3243516/china-bosses-told-clear-migrant-workers-dues-or-face-severe-punishment-lunar-new-year-approaches?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3243516/china-bosses-told-clear-migrant-workers-dues-or-face-severe-punishment-lunar-new-year-approaches?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Dec 2023 09:00:11 +0000 When Geng Sheng stepped aboard a train bound for Shenzhen in 1982, it would have been impossible for him to imagine that he would take part in China’s economic transformation – the widest expansion of its kind in modern history. Symbolic of the country’s rapid rise and development, in the span of a few decades Shenzhen went from a small fishing village into a massive commerce hub, housing the headquarters of tech behemoths Huawei and Tencent, a gleaming skyline and the world’s fourth-busiest... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3237065/they-made-chinas-economic-dream-reality-now-they-struggle-survive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3237065/they-made-chinas-economic-dream-reality-now-they-struggle-survive?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Oct 2023 22:00:13 +0000 Whether for the uber rich or desperately poor, migration has surged in importance worldwide in the past few years, triggered in particular by Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Whether the issue triggers political controversy or governmental self-congratulation depends on which migrants are knocking on your door. But political conflict, global warming and the widespread skill shortages driven by demographic change suggest that migrant flows are likely to become more significant in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3229925/it-or-not-migrants-both-rich-and-poor-will-shape-our-economic-futures?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3229925/it-or-not-migrants-both-rich-and-poor-will-shape-our-economic-futures?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Aug 2023 17:00:12 +0000 China is undoubtedly at a crossroads, having weathered one of the most severe public health and economic crises of recent times. With the need to prevent a resurgence of Covid-19 and a desire to boost economic recovery both high on the agenda, a fine balance must be struck. This is reflected in the Ministry of Public Security’s announcement on 26 new policies and measures seeking to relax social controls. For instance, there will be initiatives to facilitate rural residents or migrant workers... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3229928/easing-social-controls-can-put-chinese-economy-back-right-track?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3229928/easing-social-controls-can-put-chinese-economy-back-right-track?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Aug 2023 15:07:30 +0000 This is the second story in a three-part series about China’s employment environment, from migrant workers and fresh graduates to new job sources and the private sector. For less than a cup of coffee at most major chains, a migrant worker in a major Chinese city can rent a bed for the night. But oftentimes, that is contingent on finding work and getting paid that day. In the southeastern outskirts of Beijing, amid a record-breaking heatwave scorching the capital, migrant workers starved of both... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3226978/chinas-most-desperate-migrant-workers-jostle-temporary-jobs-losing-means-they-sleep-outside-and-stop?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3226978/chinas-most-desperate-migrant-workers-jostle-temporary-jobs-losing-means-they-sleep-outside-and-stop?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Jul 2023 22:00:24 +0000 Many of China’s migrant workers will no longer have to travel back to their hometowns to get married under new rules to help fend off a looming demographic crisis. The State Council, China’s cabinet, has approved a regulation allowing people from 21 provinces and municipalities – mostly in eastern and central China such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Zhejiang – to register their marriage where their residence permits were issued. Previously, a prospective bride and groom had to return to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3221251/china-cuts-marriage-red-tape-migrant-workers-population-crisis-looms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3221251/china-cuts-marriage-red-tape-migrant-workers-population-crisis-looms?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 May 2023 11:00:28 +0000 Youth unemployment in China came uncomfortably close to 20 per cent last July, in the wake of two months of the controversial Shanghai city Covid lockdowns. Then it fell back from 19.5 per cent, though it has fluctuated. The small relief this brought to economic policymakers has proved short-lived. The official jobless rate among 15-to-24-year-olds hit a record 20.4 per cent last month – the headline takeaway from a mixed bunch of statistics from the National Statistics Bureau of China on the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3221043/job-hopes-young-china-rest-private-sector?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3221043/job-hopes-young-china-rest-private-sector?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 May 2023 14:15:07 +0000 Oddly agitated, with none of his signature chirp, Li Bo calls me in the dead of the night, saying his shop has been shut down by the cops, and he wants to meet up and head to the police station in the morning. Bleary-eyed, I agree, and as abruptly as he called, he hangs up. Awake again after sunrise, I take a bus to the address Li texted, somewhere in the depths of Shenzhen’s Longhua district. As the bus crosses the Pearl River Delta expressway, there are no more immaculate skyscrapers or... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3215544/inside-chinese-brothel-sold-sex-silicone-dolls-until-police-shut-it-down-and-its-owners-attempts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3215544/inside-chinese-brothel-sold-sex-silicone-dolls-until-police-shut-it-down-and-its-owners-attempts?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Apr 2023 23:45:10 +0000 China’s most densely packed urban metropolis lost a quarter million migrant workers last year amid its disruptive coronavirus-induced lockdowns, resulting in Shanghai’s total population falling for the third time since 2015, local authorities said on Tuesday. The economic hub had around 24.76 million people last year, down by 135,400 compared with 2021, according to figures issued by the municipal bureau of statistics. While the number of local residents slightly increased, the population... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3215126/shanghais-population-falls-again-migrant-workers-and-births-continue-worrisome-declines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3215126/shanghais-population-falls-again-migrant-workers-and-births-continue-worrisome-declines?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Mar 2023 00:00:14 +0000 At 8am on the Monday morning following the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday, a well-known open-air job market in China’s southern manufacturing hub of Guangzhou was bustling – full of migrant workers eager to secure positions at nearby workshops and factories. This year they appeared about a week earlier than normal. Migrant workers from rural areas and small towns traditionally return to major cities after the Lantern Festival, which falls on Sunday this year. Typically, this leaves factories... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3208755/chinas-migrant-workers-return-earlier-manufacturing-hubs-after-holiday-find-fewer-openings-and-less?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3208755/chinas-migrant-workers-return-earlier-manufacturing-hubs-after-holiday-find-fewer-openings-and-less?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Feb 2023 06:00:20 +0000 Free migration of workers is essential to the health of local economies in China, demographers say, amid an irreversible decline in the country’s population. Three provinces and a city located in central and southwest China – Jiangxi, Guangxi, Gansu and Chongqing – reported population growth last year, bucking a nationwide decline of about 850,000 people, as deaths outnumbered births for the first time in six decades. The population of Jiangxi rose by some 100,000 in 2022, with around 90 per... https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3208476/china-population-free-flow-labour-vital-health-poorer-regions-national-workforce-shrinks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3208476/china-population-free-flow-labour-vital-health-poorer-regions-national-workforce-shrinks?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Jan 2023 03:00:10 +0000 China must tackle the yawning economic divide between cities and the countryside if it wants to combat income inequality and deliver on its “common prosperity” promises, outspoken former finance minister Lou Jiwei has said. Lou Jiwei, who is now a senior political adviser to the central government, said policymakers need to bring a reformist mindset to land, welfare and tax, while easing market concern that the wealthy will be targeted to narrow the wealth gap. “We do have a rather big gap in... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3206567/chinas-urban-rural-dual-economic-structure-fueling-inequality-says-ex-finance-minister?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3206567/chinas-urban-rural-dual-economic-structure-fueling-inequality-says-ex-finance-minister?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Jan 2023 04:00:11 +0000