Authors: Sherry Tao Kong, Xin Meng and Dandan Zhang, Australia National University

The global financial crisis (GFC) reduced export orders sharply and led to a decline in China’s economic growth.  As China’s exporting industries are labour intensive and most likely to employ rural migrants, it was widely believed that the GFC has had significant negative impacts on the employment and/or wages of rural migrants.

Reflecting this, at the height of the crisis, laid-off Chinese migrant workers protested outside closed factories and millions lamented lost jobs and embarked on journeys home. Read more…