China’s rural migrant workers got an average pay increase of around 21 percent last year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on 29 April. The average monthly wage for the estimated 159 million rural migrant workers employed away from their home area increased by 359 yuan to reach 2,049 yuan

In a new research report, China Labour Bulletin analyses the remarkable transformation of the workers’ movement over the last decade and discusses how the picture might change again in the future. It show how socio-economic and demographic shifts have given China’s workers more bargaining power, and  how a younger, better educated workforce has learnt to use that bargaining power to its advantage. Photograph of young migrant workers in Dongguan by CLB.