Rural attraction: The spatial pattern and driving factors of China?s rural in-migration

Human migration is a direct indicator of rural attraction. As the world's most populous nation, China is experiencing a rural population decline. The government is actively focusing on a rural revitalization strategy to make rural areas sustainable. Based on data from the sixth census in 2010, this paper applies the Moran's I method and spatial lag regression model to analyze the spatial pattern and driving factors of China's rural migration. The main conclusions are listed as follows. (1) The areas, including the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and the northwestern areas, were the most attractive destinations for rural migrants. (2) The inter-provincial rural migration pattern is close to the total rural migration pattern, but is different from the intra-provincial pattern. (3) In general, job opportunities in the secondary industry, rural income, rural investment, and the local economic levels were all main drivers for rural migration. The driving mechanisms varied in the eastern, central, and western provinces. To support China's efforts in rural revitalization, regionally different policies, urban-rural integration, and new economic factors are suggested and highlighted from the perspective of rural migration.

Automated summary

This paper analyzes the spatial pattern and driving factors of rural migration in China and finds that there are differences in migration patterns between provinces and within rural areas. Rural investment, economic levels, job opportunities in the secondary industry, and other factors are identified as the main drivers of rural migration. The paper suggests that regionally different policies, urban-rural integration, and new economic factors should be considered to support China's rural revitalization.