China has witnessed the largest labor migration since the reform and opening up policies were
implemented. According to the most recent statistics, the total number of rural to urban migrant
workers reached 136 million. Migrants are defined as persons who have left out of township for
more than 6 months. The migration flow has propelled the economic and societal transition in
China through labor productivity enhancement and social restructuring. Accordingly, the
Chinese government has improved the migration policies with increasing migration flow and the
changes of labor market situations. This report is organized as follows. Section one briefly
introduces when and how the migration started by reviewing the history, size and trend, impacts
of migration in China and the vulnerability of migrants. Section two reviews the main migration
policy changes in the past three decades. Section three illuminates the Lewisian turning point that
marks economic development and transitioning in China. Section four discusses the relevance of
China’s experiences to other developing economies in terms of economic development and
migration policy changes.