China has more than 200 million migrants, growing each decade by tens of millions, the largest rural-to-urban migration in human history. For many reasons, migrants fall outside the reach of the nation’s health care system. Sun Yat-sen University’s Center for Migrant Health and Policy (the Center) has embarked on an ambitious research program to characterize the health risks of China’s migrants and to understand how to make health care services available to them. In collaboration with the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), the Center has convened a team of researchers to produce a set of conceptual and empirical papers on demographic, socioeconomic, occupational, mobility, and health care aspects of Chinese migrants.

The second workshop of the Migration and Health in China Project was held July 16-18, 2012 in Guangzhou, providing an opportunity for authors of the anticipated 16 papers and 5 commentaries to share their drafts with academic colleagues and policymakers. The Center convened a diverse range of rich expertise at the workshop, underscoring a plan to expand its network. More than 60 people were in attendance, representing Chinese and international health and research agencies, local government offices, and more than 20 universities from China and five other countries.

CMB has supported the Center since its inception in 2008 and has provided grant support for work on the forthcoming volume of research papers. Further information on the work of the Center, under the leadership of Director Professor Li Ling, can be found at http://cmhp.sysu.edu.cn.