Guangzhou plans migrant integration

Five communities have been chosen as pilot areas in a plan to integrate migrant workers with local residents in Guangzhou, Guandong province.

Migrants will be invited to join local Party branches and participate in administration, discussion, construction and other affairs of local communities in Baiyun, Yuexiu and Panyu districts, where a large number of migrant workers live.

Meanwhile, children from migrant worker families in the pilot areas will be able to attend primary and high schools by 2020, the plan said. Migrant workers do not currently enjoy the same treatment as their urban counterparts who have household registration, or hukou, in education, medical treatment, social security employment and related fields.

Zeng Kaizhang, director of the city's management bureau for migrant workers, said a series of training courses for migrant workers will be organized to help them integrate into local communities in the next five years.

In addition to teaching special skills and providing instruction in labor laws, the courses include information on local customs and dialects.

Guangzhou has more than 7.83 million registered migrant workers.

Guangdong province, home to myriad foreign-funded companies, joint ventures and privately run enterprises, has a transient population of more than 34.9 million, the country's largest. Guangdong has more than 88.5 million permanent residents with hukou.

"The pilot project will be expanded to the entire city when it is proven successful and effective in building a harmonious society and improving the management of the large number of migrant workers in a major Chinese metropolis," Zeng said.

Zhang Yiri, an associate professor of law at Guangzhou City Polytechnic, said the plan is a people-oriented measure to manage the migrant workers who have contributed greatly to the city's economic development.

"Migrant workers' legal rights and interests should be further protected," he said.

Wang Yangsheng, a migrant worker in Guangzhou's Tianhe district, said the plan is good news.

"If my son can go to a local school, most of my difficulties will be solved," he said.