China has the most unstable migrant workers worldwide

More than 100 million Chinese peasants seek job opportunities in cities every year and they are the most unstable migrant workers in the world, said Zou Deci, an academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and academic adviser at the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, in the newly released China Urban Development Report.

A multitude of Chinese migrant workers are unable to integrate into cities and become a part of the true urban population, which is the main reason for a low level of urbanization in China.

Zou said over recent years, China's GDP has been increasing, and the urban population and urbanization level have been rising. This is a result of cheap land and cheap labor provided by migrant workers in cities, which has many problems. It has short term benefits but is not advantageous to the sustainable development in the long term.

Zou said, "China's urbanization should take a multi-path road, one which actively promotes the development of small towns in rural areas and retains and absorbs parts of surplus labor in rural areas to avoid a concentrated influx of labor into cities."

By People's Daily Online