Return migration in China: a case study of Zhumadian in Henan province

Abstract

This paper examines the causes and process of return migration from the coastal region to the inland provinces in China since the early 2010s, based on the case study of Zhumadian city in Henan Province. Surveys administered to both rural migrants from Zhumadian to Shenzhen and recent returnees to Zhumadian are presented. Industrial relocation and the development of inland provinces trigger the current wave of return migration. Family obligations, better prospects of the hometown, and barriers to settle in Shenzhen because of the hukou system are the principal reasons to return. Most of the migrants return to work in a factory or start a business. Some migrants purchase apartments in Zhumadian as a prelude to returning and starting a business at a future date. Returnees prefer settling down in urban areas rather than in their rural origins. In light of the empirical findings, the authors argue that return migration will ease the mismatch of labor supply and demand between the inland and coastal provinces, such that the Lewis Turning Point has not been reached yet. The continuing process of rural migrants returning to and settling down in Zhumadian suggests a way to achieve some of the goals in China’s new-type urbanization plan, as local governments may address the two major challenges of the plan, namely, local job creation and financing for increased demand for public services.

Keywords:

• Return migration
• industrial relocation
• hukou reform
• Lewis turning point
• national new-type urbanization plan
• Zhumadian

Notes

1. Township and Village Enterprises (TVEs) refer to companies located in townships and villages. TVEs became the most vibrant part of China’s economy in the 1980s and early 1990s. See Naughton (2007) and Huang (2008).

2. See Park and Shen (2003) and Kung and Lin (2007) on the decline of TVEs.

3. Calculated based on figures from the Monitoring and Survey Report on Rural Migrant Workers in China 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, National Bureau of Statistics.

4. The yuan data used in this paper refers to the current prices of respective years without adjusting for inflation.

5. It is estimated that one hundred million output value could absorb 107 employees in the agricultural products processing industry (Bureau of Agricultural Products Processing 2015).

6. Bishui Town, which is categorized as an urban area, is located in the center of Biyang County.

7. In China, a small city has a permanent resident population of fewer than 500,000 in its urban area; a medium-sized city has a permanent resident population of between 0.5 million and 1 million; a large city has a permanent resident population of between 1 million and 3 million; an extra-large city has a permanent resident population of between 3 million and 5 million; and a megacity has a permanent resident population larger than 5 million; in their respective urban areas.