Migration Transition in China, 1950–2015

Migration studies in China typically examine the size and structure of migrants or floating population, rather than the rate (level) of migration, which is in sharp contrast with fertility or mortality studies. In this paper, we construct annual migration rate using pooled data from Chinese General...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chinese political science review 2022-06, Vol.7 (2), p.181-196
Main Authors: Wei, Chen, Jinju, Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Internal migration
Marital status
Migrants
Migration
Migration patterns
Original Article
Political Science
Political Science and International Relations
Political Science and International Studies
Trends
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Summary:Migration studies in China typically examine the size and structure of migrants or floating population, rather than the rate (level) of migration, which is in sharp contrast with fertility or mortality studies. In this paper, we construct annual migration rate using pooled data from Chinese General Social Surveys to analyze trends and patterns of internal migration in China over 1950–2015. Figuratively, migration transition in China can be described as “the tide rose and fell, and then surged up, setting off huge waves”. Trends of annual migration rate are highly consistent with the changing political and economic circumstances in China between 1950 and 2015. Migration patterns by age, destination, marital status and education also reflect economic and demographic changes undergoing in China. The trends presented by the migration rate are much more concrete and vivid than the trends examined only through the size of migrant population. Furthermore, an interesting phenomenon observed from the migration rate is the migration heaping in years ending in 0 and 5 after 1990, which has never been revealed in other migration studies. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of the information of the time of the most recent migration in analyzing the long-term trends and patterns of migration when adequate data are not available for this purpose.
ISSN:2365-4244
2365-4252
DOI:10.1007/s41111-021-00193-2