China to make life better for migrant workers

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Summary:

China has recently been realizing more and more that they have to consider the welfare of migrant workers. In response to welfare problems and illegal seizure of rural land, Chinese premier Wen had this to say: "We need to fully respect the right of farmers to independently choose whether to seek jobs in cities or stay in their home villages, and genuinely protect their legitimate rights and interests concerning land they contract to work and the land on which their homes sit." The Chinese realize that in order for rapid urbanization to continue, they must make urbanization and argiculture "mutually reinforcing". There are around 170 million migrant workers in China. To combat such a large number of people who require better housing, China plans to create more small to medium cities so that overcrowding in cities like Beijing lessens. Another problem discussed was the previously mentioned loss of rural land. By law, agricultural land is not allowed to be used for commercial purposes but despite this industrial hubs are still popping up all over the place. The land was specifically set aside for agriculture to ensure that the country always has enough food but that law is being increasingly undermined.

Significance:

This is yet another example of how China is diverging from the traditional Communist model. The Soviet Union was too concerned with catching up with the rest of the world as fast as possible in terms of industrialization and so they completely disregarded welfare. China however, has learned from the Soviet mistake and is looking to not only catch up industrially but in the standard of living as well. The reason for this being that they realize the two are intertwined. If China can keep the migrant workers happy, they can keep not only the permanent residents happy but also the rural families that depend on the migrants. The creation of small cities would most likely be great for the overcrowding in China but it would also require more agricultural land to be converted into construction land which could lead to a famine. If the Chinese can handle this welfare issue correctly, their economy may continue to boom at an even faster rate than predicted.