The Economist.
China’s decades of miraculous growth were powered by migrant workers.
But those workers have families,
and all too often they’ve had to leave them behind when they head to jobs in factories and in the big cities.
By the UN’s latest count, in 2020, 67 million Chinese children were left behind.
Often in villages with their grandparents, or in small-town boarding schools.
These days, a new experimental policy is helping some migrants to bring their children with them.
I went to the city of Yiwu in Zhejiang province to see how this policy is working.
I’m Alice Su, the Economist’s Senior China Correspondent,
and I’m here with my co-host, our Beijing Bureau Chief, David Rennie.
This week, we’re asking: are cities starting to see migrants differently?
And could that mean a better future for left-behind children?
This is Drum Tower.
From The Economist.
David, hi, how’s it going in Beijing?
Not too bad.
I guess everyone’s getting ready for Spring Festival.
It’s kind of late this year, which has slightly thrown me.
I’m not used to a mid-February Spring Festival.
Are you going crazy?