Introduction

This chapter focuses on data derived from a large-scale survey, conducted in late 1986, of urban migration in China. As a source of information on urban migration, the 1986 survey is unique. Although majority of its people are essentially rural, China has, by whatever definition, the largest urban population in the world. That there are massive numbers of urban migrants in China should come as no surprise. Recognizing the need for better data, the Population Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, with partial support from the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, conducted, in June 1984, a workshop to explore ways of assessing the extent and pattern of internal mobility in the country – both permanent and temporary. This workshop led to a survey – actually a series of provincial surveys in September-December 1986 – conducted by 13 provincial academies and three universities.