China's migrant population to reach 310 million by 2030

BEIJING: China's migrant population, the workforce behind its massive development in the last few decades, will touch 310 million by 2030, almost the same as the population of the US.

China's migrant population stood at 254 million last year.

About 230 million Chinese will move out of the countryside to live in cities and 80 million will migrate between cities by 2030, Wang Pei'an, deputy director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), said.

Migration of the labour force remains an important pillar to sustain economic growth, Wang was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency today.

He pointed out that growing migration will create a series of challenges, including children living far away from their migrant parents and poorly-educated young migrant workers facing unemployment in cities.

He said the government must improve public services and social governance to help ease the problems.

Migrant workers provided the cheap labour force for China for the last three decades during which it emerged as the second largest economy.