(Fighting new crown pneumonia) China's economic war "epidemic" record: how nearly 300 million migrant workers survived the crisis?

China News Agency, Beijing, March 8th: The "epidemic" record of China's economic war: how can nearly 300 million migrant workers survive the crisis?

China News Agency reporter Wang Enbo

In 2019, the total number of migrant workers in China reached 290 million. At this moment in the past, most of them were leaving home to work in various places, but this practice was interrupted by the new crown pneumonia epidemic this year. Not having a job can not only leave anxiety for migrant workers, but also bring challenges to decisively overcome poverty.

Outbreak affects livelihoods of migrant workers

According to the “Monitoring Survey Report of Migrant Workers in 2018” released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2018, the average monthly income of migrant workers in China was 3,721 yuan, an increase of 6.8%.

However, some analysts pointed out that migrant workers have to bear the high cost of living rent in the city and their children's schooling. Statistics may not accurately reflect their living burden. In addition, the risks of work-related injuries, accidental injuries, illness, and lack of adequate medical and old-age security have made them potentially poor overnight.

Under the influence of the epidemic, if the measures are not taken in a timely manner, this hidden poverty group may also surface quickly.

Many small, medium and micro enterprises are suffering from the impact of the epidemic. They are the main force to absorb the employment of migrant workers. According to the statistics of the State Council's Poverty Alleviation Office, in 2019, there will be 27.29 million poverty-stricken labors in the country who work in the field. About two-thirds of these families' income comes from migrant workers, which involves about two-thirds of the poor people who set up the system Obstruction has hit them harder.

Zhang Qi, dean of the China Poverty Alleviation Research Institute of Beijing Normal University, bluntly stated that under such circumstances, the already difficult phenomenon of "two worry-free" (don't worry about eating and worrying about wearing) may reappear in individual areas and families.

"Walking on Two Legs" Solving Employment Needs

To solve the urgent needs of migrant workers, we must allow them to have work as soon as possible and have money to earn. And to help the majority of migrant workers, especially the poor, to overcome the current employment difficulties, it is necessary to "walk on two legs."

On the one hand, conditions must be resolved on the spot. For migrant workers who are temporarily unable to go out and are willing to find employment, the government has made it clear that they will promote local employment by digging into the potential of local major projects and major projects and organizing investment in agricultural production. Taking Sichuan as an example, as of March 1, there were 4.32 million migrant workers returning to work in the province, and most of the employment was concentrated in major local projects and regulated enterprises.

On the other hand, it is necessary to open the cross-region return channel. To this end, various places have established a “point-to-point”, one-stop service channel, and organized large-scale, batch-wise, migrant workers in low-risk areas to return to work by means of special trains and special trains. As of March 3, a total of 2.1 million people have been organized to return to work and return to work. Overall, 78 million migrant workers have returned to work, accounting for 60% of this year's Spring Festival return.

Poverty alleviation + revitalization help migrant workers realize their dreams

The epidemic is temporary. There is still a long way to go before migrant workers can dream of poverty and prosperity.

Jiang Chao, chief economist of Haitong Securities, noticed that from 2008 to 2018, while the growth rate of the total number of migrant workers in China slowed down, the average growth rate of local migrant workers in the past few years was about 1 percentage point higher than that of migrant workers. The proportion of quantity increased by nearly 2.5 percentage points. This phenomenon means that many migrant workers are returning to their hometowns.

In the context of rural rejuvenation, China's rural infrastructure has been increasingly perfected in recent years, and eligible towns and formed villages have reached 100% hardened roads. In addition, some traditional labor exporting places in the central and western regions have undertaken the transfer of the eastern industry as a starting point for revitalizing the local economy. Officials have also strongly supported migrant workers to return to their hometowns for employment and entrepreneurship, and the hometown development situation has further improved to attract returnees.

For example, labor export to Henan, a large province, nearly 1.5 million returnee entrepreneurs have driven 9 million people into employment. They have not only realized their own development, but also become an important force to help their hometown escape poverty and rejuvenate. (Finish)