From factory workers to talented migrants. The management of social services for new residents in Dongguan, China

Since 1978, the management of the floating population has become a big challenge for China. Dongguan, one of the major migrant cities, is widely considered a reference city, as it was the first to professionally manage migration, and it has a more permissive policy. This research chooses Dongguan as a case study for exploring the perspectives of the staff involved in service provision. Staff members from all 33 ‘migration centres’ (NDSBs) and from 38 (out of 45) social organizations working with migrants filled in an online questionnaire. The data was complemented by four in-depth interviews with people in helping professions, who assist migrants. The paper analyses several institutional challenges and structural limitations that prevent migrants from integrating, such as understaffing of social work services, insufficient funding and reliance on temporary, subcontracted social workers. The research suggests that, despite progressive policies, the education of migrant children is still a source of huge inequity between the local and migrant populations. It argues that the recent policy goals of shifting from manufacturing to high tech industries, further disadvantages the largest majority of migrants, who are low-skilled. The research clusters respondents’ proposals for change into five categories: (i) the preservation of the status quo; (ii) awareness raising and insubstantial change; (iii) assisting migrants to fit in. The absence of another two possible modes: (iv) ‘acting for structural policy reform’ and (v) ‘shaping the views of the locals on the “New Dongguanese’” is examined later.

Full text (pdf)

Chan, Kam Wing, Bellwood P. (2011). ‘China, Internal Migration’. In Immanuel Ness, ed., The Encyclopedia of Global Migration. Blackwell Publishing. 

Chan, Kam Wing (2007). iMisconceptions and complexities in the study Of China’s cities: definitions, statistics, and implicationsi. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 48(4).

Chen, H.T. (2009). Research on the policy and theory of the concept of “social organization” and the necessity of its use. “Chinese Social Organizations”, 6. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-1323.2009.06.007.

Chen, Y. (2013). Research on policy changes of floating population in China since the reform and opening up. (Master’s thesis, Shaanxi Normal University, Xian). Access on the internet: http://www.doc88.com/p-9701508874104.html.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics. (2018). 2018 China statistical yearbook. Access on the internet: http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2018/indexeh.htm.

Detailed rules for the implementation of the points-based household registration system in Dongguan, Dongguan people’s government office § 123 (2015).

Dongguan Civil Affairs Bureau. (2018, June 8). Figure social service: Tender notice for purchasing social work service project of Dongguan Civil Affairs Bureau (No. 007330088/2018-05779). Access on the internet: http://www.dg.gov.cn/007330088/0805/201806/c6e44ff5f8d0497f826fe3135dda3977.shtml.

Dongguan Development & Reform Bureau. (2019, June 19). Charge table of private primary and secondary schools in Dongguan [Online message]. Access on the internet: http://dgdp.dg.gov.cn/dgdp/zxxx/201906/87e4a4e00ddd482c9665ba7467993d77.shtml.

Dongguan Education Bureau. (2019, February 12). Figure education: Overview of education in Dongguan city in 2018 (No. 00733013/2019-00532). Access on the internet: http://www.dgedu.gov.cn/dgjy/bsdt2/201902/0313d3c3e9b3454c8454d1225211deb5.shtml.

Dongguan Investigation Team of National Statistics Bureau. (2017). 2017 investigation report of New Dongguanese’s basic conditions. Access on the internet: http://dg.wenming.cn/wmbb/201705/t20170511_3607485.shtml.

Du, J.Y. (2017, October 13). Dongguan industrial economic development since the 18th national communist party congress of China. Sun0769. Access on the internet: http://news.sun0769.com/dg/headnews/201710/t20171018_7609227.shtml.

Guo, R. (2018, April 17). Machine upgrades have left workers in Dongguan jobless, and migrant workers born in the 1990s say their future is hopeless. Baidu News. Access on the internet: https://www.kanzhun.com/news/106572.html.

Huang, F.M. (2017, December 6). World factory, the home of “New Dongguanese”? [Online article]. Access on the internet: http://www.360doc.com/content/17/1206/22/32324834_710642544.shtml.

Hu, L. (2012). The enlightenment and reference of “Dongguan model” industrial transformation to inland economic development. “Regional Economy”, 5(b).

Li, Z.J. (2017, May 26). Important! Most peope do not know what is the job of the community [Web article]. Access on the internet: https://www.sohu.com/a/143705549_642451.

Lin, X. (2018). Dongguan floating population service management innovation service. Think Tank Era, 135(19). DOI: CNKI:SUN:ZKSD.0.2018-19-015.

Luo, Z.G. (2019, January 3). The number of registered social organizations in China has exceeded 800,000. The Xinhua News Agency. Access on the internet: http://www.xinhuanet.com.

Mai, Z.X. (2015, March). Dongguan ranks first among the nine cities in the pearl river delta of internal migration rate. Nanfang Daily. Access on the internet: http://news.sun0769.com/dg/headnews/201503/t20150302_5106367.shtml.

Migrant Department of the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China. (2016). 2016 report on China’s migrant population Development. Beijing, China: China Population Publishing House.

Migrant Population Service Center, Task Force on the migrant population. (2019). 2018 Report on China’s Migrant Population Development. Access on the internet: http://www.chinaldrk.org.cn/wjw/#/achievement/publication/ded7ec35-00d4-40c6-8f73-1094df971447.

Textbook Writing Group of National Professional Level Examination for Social Worker. (2015). Social work practice (basic). Beijing, China: China Society Press.

Wang, H.J. (2018, February 28). From today, Dongguan officially cancel credit entry rule! In the future, people will enter the house like this. Dongguan Times. Access on the internet: https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1593631055945823161&wfr=spider&for=pc.

Wang, Y. (2019, January 29). Re: GDP ranking of major cities of China in 2018 [Network information]. Access on the internet: http://m.chinairn.com/news/20190129/104731694.shtml?from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0.

Wu, X.F. (2016, July 29). Dongguan has been cracking down on pornography for two and a half years: hotel became nursing house, one month’s consume reached one night’s before. Sohu News. Access on the internet:  http://news.sohu.com/20160729/n461695254.shtml.

Xiao, X.Y., Guo, K.J. & Yin, D.T. (2009). Mechanisms and options for reform on management system of the floating population in China. “Population Research”, 33(6).

Xie, Y.Y. (2019). De-professionalization of social work under government procurement of dispatched social workers: A qualitative inquiry in Shenzhen, China (Unpublished master’s thesis). Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania.

Xiong, G.Q. (2012). From limited rights to equal rights: the evolution of floating population management policies. “Social Science Research”, 06. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1000-4769.2012.06.010.

Yao, B.X. (2018, November 7). New migratory bird project [Website article]. Access on the internet: http://z.sun0769.com/2018/sgvote/alvote/201811/t20181107_7962984.shtml.

Yang, F. & Xiao, D.Z. (2009). Analysis on the characteristics of rural migrant workers policy evolution since the reform and opening up. “Journal of Jixi University”, 04. DOI: 10.16792/j.cnki.1672-6758.2009.04.040.

Zhang, Y. K. (2019, May 25). Why can they become new first tier cities? China Business News. Access on the internet:  https://www.yicai.com/news/100201039.html.

Zhang, Y.T., Cheng, W. & Huang, J.H. (2017). The role and measures of social work in promoting social integration among migrant population. “Social Work and Management”, 17(6). DOI: CNKI:SUN:DGYS.0.2017-06-003.

Zhao, X. & Han, X.Y. (2018). The exploration of the floating population social work status in China's Yangtze river delta region. “Lanzhou Academic Journal”, 6. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1005-3492.2018.06.018.

Zhu, Y. & Lin, L.Y. (2016). Studies on the temporal processes of migration and their spatial effects in China: progress and prospect. “Scientia Geographica Sinica”, 36(6). DOI: 10.13249/j.cnki.sgs.2016.06.003.