As jobs dry up, China's workers are returning to villages and staying put

Large migrant flow backwards has led to concerns over rural economic stagnation

- Aw Cheng Wei

When Mr Zhang Feng, 40, lost his job at a construction firm in Suzhou city in April, he decided to return to his village in neighbouring Anhui province to plot his next move.

He had planned to be home for only two months at most. Eight months later, he finds himself still without a job or a clear decision on his next move.

In a phone interview with The Straits Times, he said he has no plan to leave his home town to search for work any more.

"The economy is bad and jobs are drying up in the cities. There's nothing there for me," added Mr Zhang, who had lived in Suzhou for more than 20 years.

His experience is hardly unique.

Throughout the years since reform and opening up began in 1978, rural workers who have moved to the cities in search of a better future - and fuelled China's economic development - have had to return home to the villages periodically as the country's economy hit the speed bumps.

Just such a situation appears to have developed over the past several months after Chinese New Year in January, with significant numbers of unemployed migrant workers returning to their home towns and remaining there, a phenomenon known as fanxiangzhixiang.

The flow is large enough that on Nov 13, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs warned during a work meeting of the potential large-scale return of unemployed workers to their home towns, leading to economic stagnation in the villages.

More will need to be done to secure employment for those who have returned from the cities, on top of those in the villages who already face difficulties landing jobs, the authorities added.

Despite the government's concerns, however, things may be changing in the rural areas. The national policy to revitalise China's villages may mean that there are job opportunities nearer home for rural migrant workers if they are willing to accept lower salaries.

SHRINKING URBAN JOB OPPORTUNITIES