"What the premier has pledged shows the government's determination and efforts to improve living and working conditions of migrant workers," said Tang Jun, a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences social policy researcher.

The improvement was inevitable with the country's economic and social development, he said.

Migrant laborers from rural areas are estimated to number around 210 million. They have become a pillar of the country's work force, but they face various problems, including pay arrears, work-place injury compensation, health care and their children's schooling.

In 2004, China began to tackle the problem of unpaid wages for migrant workers. Employers at many construction sites, for example, often delayed paying them with various excuses. With the government efforts in the past few years, the problem has been largely resolved.

In 2007, the central government ordered progress on migrant workers' insurance for workplace injuries and medical treatment for those with serious diseases.

Old-age insurance will also be available for migrant workers.

"It will be much better if all social services can go with us as we move from one area to another," said Fan Shusheng, a one-time farmer in central Henan Province who now works for a construction company in Beijing.

There have already been cases of migrant workers who withdrew from the social security schemes as these were not portable.

"The government has shown a clear attitude toward ensuring migrant workers' social security services," said social policy researcher Tang. "The key is what kinds of feasible, continuing polices will be drawn up and implemented."

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2008)