Opportunities at Home: Chinese migrant workers return to the countryside

[Photo:baidu.com]

In the past few decades, hundreds of millions of people in China have moved from the countryside to the cities to seek better lives. These migrant workers are called Nongmingong in Chinese, which literally means farmers-turned-workers.

The group has played a pivotal role in driving the nation's massive and rapid economic expansion.

But migration always comes at a price. Migrant workers were denied access to public and welfare services in the cities because they were not registered there – for these services they would have to travel back to their home villages.

Amid the deepening economic and social reforms, the government has begun to abolish some of the policies that prevented them from becoming full-status urban citizens.

But while some of the migrant workers do choose to settle down in the cities, others, estimated to be millions, decided to return to their rural hometowns, where new opportunities are emerging.

These returning migrant workers, with the support of favorable policies, have found jobs with local businesses or started their own in the agriculture, construction and service industries.

The new trend has won praise from some observers, who say it will benefit China's agricultural and overall rural development.

[The audio clip is from our weekly features program Life Upclose, produced by CRI. You can get the complete audio by searching "Life Upclose" in the Apple Podcast.]