The Guangzhou-centered Pearl River Delta, the economic powerhouse in south China which used to absorb millions of surplus rural labor force across the country, is sustaining severe shortage of farmer workers, while a large number of farmers are heading for east China's Yangtze River Delta to look for jobs.

Thousands of local enterprises in Guangdong need at least 2 million migrant workers if they want to operate in full capacity, according to an official with the provincial government.

Meanwhile, many farmers are migrating to cities in the Shanghai-centered Yangtze River Delta and some other provinces in east China to seek fortune.

Anhui is a major labor export province in east China.

The railway authorities in Fuyang City of the province said they handled more than 1.2 million passengers during the Spring Festival holiday last month. Those heading for Shanghai increased by 30 percent and those going to Guangzhou reduced by 20 percent, compared with one year earlier.

The new trend of the flowing army of migrant workers has caught the attention of lawmakers and government advisers who are gathering in Beijing for their annual sessions this week.

Fang Chaogui, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC),China's top legislature, attributed the shift to the accelerated development in the Yangtze River Delta and China's western regions and to the upgrading of the industrial base in northeastern China.

"These regions are attracting an increasing amount of capital and labor force mainly in the labor-intensive industries, including shoemaking, toy, garment and plastic product," said Fang, who is also director of the Guangdong provincial labor and social security department.

In addition, "the sharp increase in farmers' income last year also helped draw more farmers to cropland," he added.

Professor Cai Lin of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, said the narrowing of the gap between urban and rural areas in theYangtze River Delta also created a favorable environment for migrant workers.

In some of the cities in southern Jiangsu Province, said the professor, migrant workers are treated as "new urban residents", and they are offered technical training courses. In Yixing City, a "new urban resident community" has been established in the work units or districts with a registered migrant population of more than 1,000.

"All these measures have helped attract labor forces from outside," said Cai, who is also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

More NPC deputies and CPPCC members blamed the shortage of labor force in south China for the low payment local companies offer to migrant workers.

NPC deputy Chen Shu, also from Guangdong, said some factories in Guangdong offer a monthly pay that is just above the government allowance that keeps a minimum standard of living for the urban jobless, while asking the migrant workers to overwork without providing any welfare.

"The migrant workers know where to go, and they leave the PearlRiver Delta," Chen said.

To attract more labor force, said NPC deputy Shi Heping from Jiangsu Province, the local governments should make efforts to protect the rights and interests of migrant workers, providing them with a stable salary and having them to feel like urbanites.

Source: Xinhua