Migration and Economic Development in China: Evidence from the latest population census

         
Author Name MENG Jianjun  (Visiting Fellow, RIETI)
Creation Date/NO. June 2013 13-J-048
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Abstract

The greatest feature of the Chinese economy since the launch of its reform and open-door policies is that its economic resources, including human resources, goods, and capital, have become truly liquid nationwide under a market economy for the first time in the history of Chinese economic development. This process of becoming liquid has transformed China from a traditional or planned economy into a market economy, and has provided the driving force for the reallocation of new economic resources.

This paper examines the economic development and interregional migration in China using the migration statistics in the latest (sixth) national population census, conducted in 2010. More specifically, it analyzes regional distribution and migration trends in recent years, and highlights their characteristics by examining the population migration in three levels: cities, towns, and villages. The paper then attempts to examine the relationships between the various factors of the interregional migration and economic development in each region, and the process and mechanism for reallocating economic resources in China under a market economy.