"In contrast, you see many villages empty of young people, with land uncultivated," Mu said.

Yin Deting, a researcher with the Beijing Population Research Institute, said urban areas attract migrants in many ways.

"The income gap between urban and rural areas used to be the main reason for migrants going to cities, while the favorable policies in cities on education and medical care for migrants and their children have become new pull factors," Yin told China Daily yesterday.

Many cities, for instance, have set up special schools for the children of migrant workers in line with preferential policies, Yin said.

"More rural residents prefer to stay in Beijing and seek opportunities for their children to study in the capital, where the quality of education is definitely better than what is available in their hometowns," he said.

A better social welfare system for rural areas would help address the threat of social instability amid overheating urbanization, Yin said.

"Urbanization is a complex process which needs to be compatible with the conditions of employment, security, education, public transportation, medical insurance, environmental protection and infrastructure," he said.

Yin cited the example of satellite cities as one way to relieve the pressure.

"Many large cities have developed small-scale, satellites cities to relieve the pressure of population," he said.

Much effort has been spent on developing 14 satellite cities around Beijing, which have helped absorb low-skilled labor from the capital, Yin said.

The country's urbanization is closely linked to the reform of the industrial structure, said Lai Desheng, director of the labor market research center under Beijing Normal University.

The shift of focus from the agricultural industry to the service sector in the process of urbanization would also present new challenges, Lai said.

While students in rural areas can access government subsidies to finish a nine-year compulsory education, once they leave their hometowns and come to urban areas, the subsidies are no longer applicable, Lai said.

As a result, these students face financial difficulties when they try to enter schools in cities.

A proper mechanism should be set up to finance this group, Lai said.

(China Daily March 26, 2008)