1.Introduction

1.1 Summary

Rural labourer migration has become one of the significant socio-economic phenomena in China，the most populous country in the world. The number of rural migrant labourers has increased greatly after the “reform and opening up” started in the late 1970s and early 1980s，especially after Deng Xiaoping’s speeches in southern coastal China in 1992，and the relaxation of Hukou System（residence registration system），which no longer prohibits rural labour migration，but still restricts migrant labourers’ access to public health care，pension system，legal aid，social services，etc.. Besides the government’s actions，other structural factors have also led to the largescale rural labour migration in China（114 millions in 2003）including numerous “surplus” rural labourers，income gap，regional disparity，etc..In recent years，the government has gradually come to appreciate rural migrant labourers and to a large extent realized the importance of rural labour migration. However，even though many policies have been issued to protect rural migrant labourers and to promote rural labour migration，five challenges/problems have not been adequately addressed：first，the issues of poverty and poverty reduction among migrant labourers，especially in terms of incapacity and social exclusion of rural migrants，need to be taken more seriously by policy makers and social actors in future；second，there is a policy gap between rural and urban poverty reduction，i.e.，the current policies of poverty reduction do not address rural migrant labourers，who are working and living in urban areas but have no urban Hukou；third，regional diversity in rural labour migration has not been fully considered by government policies；fourth，few policies consider rural labour migration issues in terms of gender；and last，it is necessary and advantageous to forge a “win-win” relationship between rural migrant labours and local developers. It is important to note that these challenges are not unrelated but rather intertwined. To confront these challenges，project or policy makers can find and utilize existing resources among NGOs，the government，academics，rural migrant labourers，and other social actors. Currently，agents involved in/affected by rural labour migration include：governmental agencies at both central and local levels（such as MOLSS，MOA，OPRD，etc.），international organizations and local NGOs，academics，migrant labourers and their families，employers and volunteers.

Legal framework

Since the early 1980s，governmental policies have gradually come to allow rural labourers the freedom to migrate to urban areas. Within the framework of current policies，rural（migrant）labourers can，（i）move into cities and obtain permanent residency in small cities and townships，（ii）seek nonagricultural jobs in urban areas，（iii）appeal to urban authorities like labour agencies for help and protection；and（iv）enjoy more social services than before，such as training programmes，children’s education，health care，etc..Moreover，the Chinese Government has shifted to a comprehensive approach to development rather than focusing solely on GDP growth. This so-called “New Paradigm for Development”，launched by the Chinese Government in October 2003，aims for a more balanced，comprehensive and sustainable development. Under this new strategy，policies concerning rural labour migration can be expected to undergo more positive changes in the coming years. However，despite the positive effects of these new governmental policies，a large number of rural migrant labourers are living and working in poverty in terms of incapacity and social exclusion，especially female migrants，a particularly vulnerable population that has not been specifically addressed within the existing policy framework. Moreover，thus far governmental policy-making has not adequately taken into account that on the one hand，there is abundant social capital among migrant labourers，and on the other，migrant labourers have different needs in different areas and at different times. To solve the problems，the policies concerning rural labour migration should：first，focus on poverty reduction among migrants and local development；second，address the needs of female migrants；third，take into account social capital among rural migrant labourers and integrate it into or link it with policies；last，to take regional diversity into consideration and encourage local autonomy and creativity in policy-making and policy implementation.

Change initiative：an ongoing UNESCO project

To explore practical solutions to the above challenges，UNESCO，in cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences，launched a six-year project（2002—2007）entitled Urban Poverty Reduction among Young Migrants（subtitled Together with Migrants in 2003）. The project