ABSTRACT
During the first decade of the new millennium, “China’s rise” and “China’s century” are among the descriptions favored by media and observers worldwide to portray the nation’s rapid transformation into a global economic superpower (e.g. Bader 2006; Newsweek 2005). China is now the third-largest trading nation in the world. According to the WTO, China has since 2006 surpassed the US as the world’s second-largest exporter and is projected to overtake Germany to become the biggest exporter in 2008 (China Daily 2007c). And, all eyes will be on China in August 2008 as the Olympic Games opens in Beijing, and in May-October 2010 as Shanghai hosts the World Expo. Behind the glamour, millions of migrant workers have been toiling for decades to make, build, and serve. It is estimated that Beijing alone has about four million peasant migrants, of whom a quarter are construction workers, many brought in to build the Olympics facilities (Xinhua News Agency 2006).69
