The Chinese Rural Migration Before and After the Opening Policy

Rural migrant workers have become not only a new social stratum rapidly rising in Chinas society, but also an important driving force of urbanization and an important component of industrial workers in China. According to the data of the 5th nation-wide population census, rural migrant workers account for 57.6 % of the employees in secondary industry, 52 % in tertiary industry, 68 % in processing and manufacturing industries, and 80 % in construction industry. This paper discussed the phenomenon of Chinese rural migration before and after the opening policy, and will go more deeply through analyzing the main factors driving the phenomenon of Chinese rural urban migration, the effects of the migration flows and the different challenges faced by those migrants