It is worrying that the income growth and social welfare coverage of migrant workers risks being affected by the economic downturn and the lack of workable measures to guarantee their rights and interests.

There are 262.61 million migrant workers, according to a survey by the National Bureau of Statistics, and the sheer number requires that policymakers pay attention to their well-being.

The global economic cooldown, which has battered China's manufacturing industry, has slowed the growth in incomes of migrant workers. Their average monthly salary only increased by 11.8 percent year-on-year in 2012, down 9.4 percentage points on the year before.