Migrant workers streaming to Guangdong

South China's Guangdong province, home to a myriad of foreign-funded companies, joint ventures and private firms, is welcoming a growing number of migrant workers from around the country after great efforts by local authorities to attract them after the Lunar New Year.

A charter train with 756 migrant workers on board arrived at Guangzhou South Railway Station at 3:55 pm on Wednesday after an over 5-hour journey from Baise prefecture in bordering Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The workers from Youjiang district of Baise city, Tianyang, Pingguo, Debao, Napo and Lingyun counties in Guangxi were quickly picked up and transported to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Dongguan by relevant departments and companies after they arrived.

"The migrant workers from outside the province will play an important role in helping ease labor shortages in Guangdong where many companies are seeking workers to resume their production," said a statement released by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security on Thursday.

Also on Tuesday, 496 migrant workers from Southwest China's Yunnan province arrived in South Railway Station by a train organized by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, and they have begun working in major cities in the prosperous Pearl River Delta.

Ge Guoxing, deputy director of the department, said his department plans to organize at least 10 free special trains to help transport migrant workers from major labor outsourcing provinces, including Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Hunan, and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, back to Guangdong to help local companies restore their production in the coming weeks.

According to Ge, more than 9.6 million workers out of the 10.4 million who left Guangdong for home to spend the holiday with family members will gradually return to the province in the weeks to come.