[Spatial mobility and socioeconomic development in China since the beginning of the 1980s]

Changes in internal migration patterns in China since the beginning of the 1980s are analyzed. The emphasis is on how the economic reforms of the 1970s have affected migration, which used to be governed primarily by political considerations. "Though the old barriers restricting rural-urban migration, especially the household-registration system, are still valid, cities nevertheless suffer from migration-pressure, caused by the agricultural reforms and the continuing economic disparities between city and country. Migrants into cities and towns, still registered as rural inhabitants, are called 'floating population'. Quite a big number (about 15 million people) already have been staying in the cities for more than one year. The drawbacks and advantages for the cities of these mobile population groups are discussed in detail." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE)