Asia

Sierens China: rural migration in the year of the monkey

More and more Chinese are moving into the home back. Reason alone is not the faltering economy in China, but also the longing for more quality of life, says DW columnist Frank Umbrella.

Although the year of the monkey until Monday of next week begins, the streets in the cities of China has always been empty. In Beijing, where I between the third and second Ring live and work, I come for days even more than usual without traffic jams through the traffic. And the air is clean and smogfrei – due to the due to new year holidays closed factories. Because nationwide remain the factories for at least a week. And around 250 million workers to solve, as every year, the largest Reisewelle in the country, if they are for the new year to go home.

This year, however, is quite a bit different than usual: Many workers are already a couple of weeks ago drove home. This is due to the weakening economy. China’s economy grew last year by only 6.9 percent. And in 2016, the growth at 6.5 percent. Jobs on Assembly lines and in manufacturing industry are dropped. But, ever-fewer workers, better qualified, want to do construction or work in factories. Physical work, as part of their parents ‘ home as farmers will be exercised, is already long not more on the top of the wish-list of occupations with younger workers. Not even if you get in the expensive cities must draw.

Number of inner-Chinese migrants sinks

For the first Time in thirty years, the number of inner-Chinese migrants in the past year by around six million fallen. This has, on the one hand, the demographic development of the country, the decline vintages bring fewer and fewer young migrant workers. On the other hand, the Chinese government recognized that in the overloaded million-large cities of the country more and more frequently Zweiklassengesellschaften arise. Cause is the so-called Hukou System, the Chinese census, each Person in a family register at the place of origin leads to, and a move within China is actually illegal. De facto is this kind of caste system emerged, the migrant workers second-class citizens. Because they are frequently used in the cities of social security benefits, Krankenhausbesuchen excluded and may not even their children in the school.

DW-columnist Frank Umbrella

Have forty years ago, not even twenty percent of the Chinese population in the city lived, it is now already over 50 percent. By 2020, it’s already 60 percent. But this also means that the social explosives, and more and more frequently to protests and discontent in the Chinese population. Beijing faces a Dilemma. Because a Reform of the Hukou system threatens to be expensive, because the services in the city, of course, are more expensive than on Land. But perhaps dampens the cooling economy will also have this Problem, because some migrants are actually consider, and the cities of the back to sweep.

Healthy life away from the big cities

But there is still a new Trend: Not only migrant workers could be after the holidays no longer at their jobs to return to, but also the “White Collar Workers”, i.e. employees in enterprises, some of which have studied and far more to earn as a construction workers on Beijing’s building sites. This is because many “White Collar Worker” have the same as the migrant workers recognized that their view of a day, an apartment in the big cities of China like Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou to purchase, is equal to Zero. You see your future, therefore, more likely in the second or drittrangigen cities such as Chongqing, Nanjing or Luoyang.

At the same time, the government has now the development of rural projects, infrastructure projects and loans for investment in rural areas is supported. This is the income per head in the rural regions of China this year for the first Time about 10,000 Yuan (1,500 euros) increase. The would rise faster than the Per capita income in the cities. Together with the prospect of cheaper Rent, closer family ties, and last but not least, on the supply of safer food, not spoiled or gepanscht is what drives the many urbanites back to the countryside.

Chances of growth in the West of the country?

Beijing supports the idea of the “rural Start-ups” more than ever. Alone in the province of Sichuan in southwest China should now 40.000 returnees, a new business pending. That would not be the worst way of new growth for the Chinese economy to open up and thus domestic growth to strengthen.

Our correspondent Frank Umbrella lives since over 20 years ago in Beijing.