Society

Migrant population to grow to 350 million: report

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-05-31 17:23

About 350 million Chinese people will travel from their hometowns to other parts of the country, according to a newly released report, China News Agency said Monday.

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Released on Monday, the Annual Report on Urban Development of China points out that China's mobile population reached 221 million in 2010, and will hit 350 million in 2050 if policies stay mainly unchanged.

However, the growth rate of the mobile population will slow down in the next four decades, decreasing from the current nearly 6 million a year to 3 million a year in 2050, the report says. What's more, they will be better educated. Families will also join the migration to settle down in new places.

The migrants' destinations are mainly coastal or riverside areas, though the financial crisis deflected their routes recently, the report says.

The report also foresees changing demographics in industry workers, saying that instead of picking up farm work in farming seasons, more migrant workers will focus on their jobs in cities.