Migrants and Health in Urban China

The double-edged policy pursued by the Chinese government of allowing rural-to-urban migrants to contribute economically to China's growth while, at the same time, placing restrictions on the migrants' urban residence permits and their access to urban facilities has created serious challenges for public health strategies implemented at national and local levels. This has led to the opening up of a new research field for Chinese and western scholars in social science, urban anthropology, political science and public health and thus, indirectly, to the compilation of papers presented in this volume. The majority of the papers are organized within the three main topic areas of health risks, health services and health insurance for rural migrants in Chinese cities and have a focus on the Pearl River Delta and Guangzhou city; the volume also includes two documentary contributions on migration regulations and civil society services for migrants suffering from occupational diseases and work-related injuries.