Chinese Contemporary Internal Migration: Trends and Challenges
Siham Gourida

Abstract
Based on the 2010 census, official figures suggest that for the first time more people in China live in cities than in the rural areas. According to estimates from the United Nations Population Division, China's urban population increased from only 64 million in 1950 to almost 636 million in 2010. China's urbanization is driven by its economic modernization which has created millions of jobs in urban industry and service sectors. It was made possible through a relaxation in the enforcement of "hukou' rules, which had largely prevented rural to urban migration in the Mao-period. This essay explores the trends and patterns of internal migration, the directions of the internal migration in china, and the main challenges face the rural-urban migrants on the household level. And in the last part we came out with some resolution policies implemented by the Chinese policy’ makers.

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