China has a huge population, but a weak economic foundation with relatively inadequate per-capita resources. Many contradictions and problems with China's economic and social development are closely associated with the issue of population, which has become the main problem restricting the nation's progress.

The Chinese government pays great attention to this issue and has placed it on the agenda as an important part in the overall plan of national economic and social development, emphasizing that population growth should be compatible with development and in line with resource utilization and environmental protection.

After the reformation and opening policy was implemented in China in 1978, the difference between eastern and western areas has become more distinct. Eastern areas have more developed industries, more job chances, higher salaries, better medical conditions and rapid economic development. There are many factors influencing people to move or relocate to costal areas. The primary reasons include: poverty, employment, education, business opportunities, standard of living, economic or industrial policies and Special Economic Zones/Sub Provincial Cities.

However in history, China has restricted internal movement in various ways. The central government attempted to control movement through the household registration system and promoted development of small cities and towns, but within this system many people were still able to migrate primarily for employment or educational purposes. Leaving their place of official registration for days, months, or even years, unemployed agricultural workers found jobs in construction, housekeeping, or commune-run shops or restaurants. This temporary mobility was permitted by authorities because it simultaneously absorbed a large amount of surplus rural labor, improved the economies of rural areas, and satisfied urban requirements for service and other works.

The most popular way of the migration was called "flowing population": a large number of people moving from the central and western regions to the eastern coastal region, from the countryside to the city, and from underdeveloped economic areas to developed areas, as a result of fast-paced reform-era economic development and modern agricultural practices that have reduced the need for a large agricultural labor force. Although residency requirements have been relaxed to a degree, the floating population is not officially permitted to reside permanently in the receiving towns and cities.

As a fact, the government takes a series of measures to accelerate the migration from west to east in recent years. The government thinks the migration is a very efficient way to reduce the rich-poor gap within China. The migration of up to 100 million farmers from western regions to economically developed eastern urban areas is feasible.

Firstly, the migration can guarantee an ample labor supply for the further economic development of eastern regions. Meanwhile, the development pressure can be reduced in economically and ecologically fragile western areas because of the fall in the population. 

The migrants can mainly settle in the three city belts in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin area. As China, with a population of about 1.3 billion, has about 220 million surplus laborers in rural areas and most of them live in the central and western regions. 

But how to control the maximum number of people and decide who should be allowed to settle in those cities? This is a tough job, no specialist in China who worked on population research in the city belts can tell us how many people can be accepted in those cities exactly. About 40 million, 70 million and 45 million residents respectively live in China's three urban belts. On the one hand, thousands of college graduates from western regions are working in eastern cities, despite some of them having no household registration there. On the other hand, up to 50 million rural surplus laborers are earning money outside their own provinces and most of them are working in eastern regions. Household registration in eastern regions should cover graduates and farmers-turned-workers as soon as possible. 

Meanwhile, accelerated western development was also an important problem to the government.

In fact, China central and local governments have brought into many steps to speed the development of these regions, launching 102 projects from 2000 to 2008, involving 1.74 trillion Yuan of investment. The West Development Strategy is a policy adopted by the Chinese government to help underdeveloped western region catch up with prosperous eastern region. 

China government will stick to its policy to develop the western regions as it proved effective in boosting economic and social progresses there in the 10 years since its launch. More funds will be channeled into the areas for infrastructure construction including railways, roads, airports and water conservation projects. China will make more efforts to upgrade the industrial structure in the western regions and boost industries with advantages there, planning to invest 468.9 billion Yuan (68.65 billion U.S. dollars), in 2009, in 18 projects, including railways, express ways, hydropower stations, shipping hubs, water control projects and airports. These projects play a vital role in implementing China's West Development Strategy, promoting economic and social development there and improving people's livelihood in the region. For example, China would extend railways to more than 50,000 kilometers in its vast western regions by 2020.