China's migrant population drops for 2nd consecutive year: report

A report on China's migrant population development is released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission. [Photo: weibo.com]

A latest report has suggested that the size of China's floating population, or people living somewhere different from the place of their household registration, has shrunk for the 2nd consecutive year.

The report, released by China's National Health and Family Planning Commission, shows the country's migrant population stood at around 245 million last year, decreasing by over 1.7 million year on year.

Wang Qian, director of floating population and family planning administration under the commission, says a number of policies and measures have contributed to the reduction.

"The country has been further advancing reforms of the household registration system, taking more steps to grant urban residency to 100 million people who previously did not have such permits, and encouraging migrant workers to return home and start businesses. Some cities have also set targets on regulating and controlling their population numbers. All these measures have affected the number of the floating population," says Wang.

The figure also shows that China's floating population contains a higher percentage of younger people, with those born after 1980 accounting for 56.5% of the total in 2016.

"In general, most of the younger generation among the country's floating population has received higher education, which could improve the public image of migrant workers, who are commonly believed to have received little education. Furthermore, these younger, educated people could help make greater contributions to facilitate the country's economic development," says Duan Chengrong, a professor with Renmin University of China.

"These people might have higher expectations on their development in urban areas, especially when it comes to job opportunities, personal income, even their children's education. As such, more opportunities and services should be available for those people in urban areas. It can help them to become urbanized and better integrate into our society," adds the scholar, calling for more public services to meet those people's needs in employment, education and healthcare.