Millions of Chinese farmers continue to flock to cities, as they have done for decades, but now, many are starting their own businesses rather than accepting menial laboring work.

Tang Zhonglong, a farmer of Linxia, a Muslim area in northwest China's Gansu Province, looked for odd jobs in urban districts a decade ago. He became boss of a grocery shop a couple of years agoand plans to open several sub-branches in neighboring provinces.

Statistics showed about 90 million surplus rural laborers have swarmed into cities nationwide and the number continues to grow. The transient population in the Chinese capital alone topped four million in 2003. One in every four people on Beijing's streets are from other Chinese provinces.

Migrant rural workers used to make a living in cities by working at construction sites, hotels and urban sanitary units.

"The only purpose of urban life was to make odd money and send the surplus to my hometown," said a farmer who began working in cities in the 1980s.

For many ambitious young farmers today, the object of working in cities is more than just making a living. They study occupational skills, have a wider field of vision and save their money.

In recent years, many migrant rural workers have set up restaurants, repair shops and groceries with the skills and savings they obtained. After making their fortune, some moved the whole family into cities and started a life entirely different from their ancestors.

When farm worker Zhang Henghe left his hometown in Changlinhe Township of eastern Anhui province in his 20s to do odd jobs in Beijing, he never dreamed he would make his fortune there.

Today, 40-year-old Zhang is the boss of his own interior decoration company that employs nearly two dozens workers and reports 10 million yuan (1.2 million US dollars) of business turnover a year.

More than 8,000 farmers from Zhang's hometown, or 30 percent of the township's population, are working as decorators in large cities, bringing home at least 4,000 yuan (US$480) a year.

The influx of farmers in cities was led by surplus laborers as a result of the household contract responsibility system two decades ago. The majority of them cherished a simple desire of making a little money when they first went to the city. As time goes by, they seek a higher goal in urban life.

"This is a new phase in the course of urbanization, The increase in the number of farmer-turned-bosses will accelerate the pace of China's modernization drive," said Liu Min. a Chinese sociologist.

Since defaulted construction costs and wages appeared for migrant workers in the construction industry in some Chinese provinces last year, governments at various levels have worked out measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of rural migrant workers and improve the working conditions of this disadvantaged group.

Chinese legislatures called for recognition of migrant rural workers' status of "industrial workers" and demanded national policies to guarantee that they enjoy the same treatment in terms of social security, insurance, payment and vacations as their urban-born peers.

The Chinese government plans to provide professional skills training to over 200 million migrant rural workers from 2003 to 2010.

The "No. 1 Document" newly issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee has guaranteed funding for occupational training to help make migrant workers more competitive in the labor market.
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2004)