China

History

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Migration

Since the declaration of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, trends in internal migration have shifted between four distinct phases.

Phase 1

From 1951-1960, coincided with the First Five Year Plan (1953-1957) and the Great Leap Forward (1958). Following the lead of Stalin and the Soviet Union in the 1930s, Mao Zedong chose to invest in heavy industry following his ascension and solidification of power. Peasants rushed to the urban centers to fill the labor gap as a result of China’s booming industries and relatively laissez-faire migration policy during this time. Consequently, 20 percent of China’s population lived in cities by 1960.

Phase 3

From 1966-1977, as part of the “rustication movement” millions of party cadres, intellectuals, and young people were sent to the countryside and all rural to urban migration flows were halted. The urban population remained stagnant at around 17 percent during this time.

Phase 2

From 1961-1965, was the result of realization that China’s agriculture sector could not survive with the previous era’s rate of urbanization. With an urban population numbering 130 million by 1960, grain rations were issued in all major cities. Finally, to reduce the urban population, 24 million workers were forcibly sent to the countryside.

Phase 4

From 1978 to the present, has been a time of globally unprecedented rural to urban migration and urbanization. Deng Xiaoping’s reforms resulted in a relaxing of the harsh policies towards migrants, as well as an end to Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Deng abolished the use of grain rationing coupons, and pursued free market policies. This transition towards a market economy transformed the urban industrial structure and created further employment opportunities. And now, while migration is still restricted through the use of the six-decade-long hukou system, a requirement that rural citizens must register with their local governments and be forever classified by where they were born, rather than where they live, rural migrants can now live and work in cities so long as they are capable of supporting themselves. The result has been a massive influx into China’s booming cities, with nearly 44 percent of Chinese citizens now living in urban areas.

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