Returning migrant workers become a vital force driving regional economic and social development
On September 11, reporters learned at the First China High-level Forum on Migrant Workers Returning Home to Start Businesses and Innovate, held in Huichuan District, Zunyi City, Guizhou Province, that large numbers of migrant workers returning home to start businesses and innovate have become an important force driving regional economic and social development and promoting a second wave of entrepreneurship.
Experts at the forum noted that, with economic and social transformation and development, the capital and technical advantages that migrant workers have accumulated in urban development have formed a complementary effect with the current shortcomings in capital, technology and talent in rural development. By the end of 2015, the cumulative number of migrant workers nationwide who had returned home to start businesses exceeded 4.5 million, accounting for about 2% of the total number of migrant workers. Migrant workers who started businesses had cumulatively registered 25.05 million individually owned businesses, more than 400,000 agricultural product processing enterprises, 270,000 leisure agriculture operating entities and 2.5 million new agricultural operating entities. Migrant workers setting out again to start businesses and innovate at home has become a new trend.
During the forum, experts discussed topics including migrant workers returning home to start businesses and innovate and advancing supply-side structural reform, new urbanization, balanced urban-rural development, coordinated regional economic development, and how the government can overcome the policy shortcomings for migrant workers returning home to start businesses. While summarizing and promoting the "Huichuan experience," the experts suggested that all localities can, according to actual conditions, give support to migrant worker entrepreneurs, such as building business incubation bases and service platforms, guiding more institutions to provide various services for returning migrant workers starting businesses, vigorously carrying out entrepreneurship training and special training for migrant workers, and enhancing the entrepreneurial and employment abilities of returning migrant workers.
Huichuan District of Zunyi City has long been committed to exploring migrant workers returning home to start businesses and has embarked on a path with local characteristics in which entrepreneurship drives employment, innovation promotes development, and targeted poverty alleviation, beautiful countryside construction and coordinated county-level economic development are advanced together. A large number of typical examples of migrant workers returning home to start businesses and innovate have emerged, and the area is known as the birthplace of China's policies for migrant workers returning home. At present, Huichuan District of Zunyi City has a total of 12,064 migrant worker entrepreneurial households, accounting for 58% of returning migrant workers, and has cumulatively driven employment for 47,526 people.
This forum was hosted by the China Rural Labor Resources Development Research Association of the Development Research Center of the State Council, the Rural Social Undertakings Development Center of the Ministry of Agriculture, the CPC Zunyi Municipal Committee and the Zunyi Municipal People's Government. More than 300 people attended the forum, including responsible persons from relevant State Council ministries and commissions and relevant departments in various localities, experts, and outstanding migrant worker representatives.