The government should work to ensure that migrant workers receive their overdue wages before Spring Festival, Premier Li Keqiang said at a State Council plenary meeting on Thursday.

Qiu Xiaoping, vice-minister of human resources and social security, said on Thursday that local governments should make the issue of paying migrant workers' overdue wages their top priority before Spring Festival.

For companies that owe migrant workers large amounts of money and cannot pay due to financial difficulties, governments at various levels should raise funds to pay the migrant workers in advance, Qiu said.