However, an increasing number of migrant workers are returning to settle down in Hubei, starting their own businesses with the hard-earned savings, knowledge and technologies.

In Yangxin County alone, about 2,500 former migrants have set up more than 500 businesses in the past three years, generating 3.5 billion yuan in industrial output and 180 million yuan in tax revenue last year.

"We can't leave the problems to the rural areas. Slow as it is, urbanization is a viable way to reduce rural poverty and boost consumption," said Zhou Layuan, of Hubei labor authority. "Migrant workers who have made significant contributions to urban prosperity deserve decent and better lives. It's the government's duty to help them prosper in cities."

Migrant rural labor has become a significant component of China's industry, accounting for 58 percent of the manufacturing workforce, 52 percent of service industry employment and 68 percent of processing workers. In construction sector, the ratio is as much as 80 percent, official figures show.

(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2008)