There are 1.1 million migrant workers in this north China municipality, who earned 6.6 billion yuan from the city last year.

The migrant population is nearly one tenth of the total population in this coastal city. They are mainly employed in the service trades, building and township businesses.

A survey in Tianjiang showed that the transient work force aged between16 to 50 consisted of surplus farm labors from Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Sichuan and northeast China provinces. The population of that category topped one million for the first time last year.

Urbanization has created the most job opportunities for migrant workers, the survey said. A construction worker earns 20 yuan a day, and a skilled laborer can make up to 40 yuan.

Now, housing building and decoration and company security are among the emerging lucrative markets for migrant workers.

With their tolerance for hard and tiring work, and their willingness to accept comparatively low salaries, migrant workers have secured a large part of the job availability in the service sector.

The survey estimated that migrant workers spent 2.3 billion yuan of their earnings in the city annually, which is based on an average monthly consumption of 180 yuan per person.

However, the migrant workforce is also responsible for 35 percent of the crimes in Tianjin for the past three years. To curbthis, the municipal government has worked to improve personnel management and training of migrant workers.