Sichuan province reached a turning point in its labor flow in 2012, with the number of laborers moving within the province surpassing those moving to work outside — for the first time, official figures flow.

Among some 24 million rural laborers, 12.9 million moved to jobs within the province, while 11.1 million found work in other areas of China, according to the local statistics authority.

In 2011, about 12 million rural laborers left Sichuan to work in other provinces and cities.

Guo Xiaoming, deputy director of the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, was quoted as saying by China Business News that such a turning point showed China's regional economic structures are changing and labor-intensive industries are moving from coastal regions to central and western areas.

Guo said more-developed coastal regions are still the most attractive to young laborers but the older generation of migrants, who went to work in coastal regions from the late 1970s and who are now aged between 40 and 60, are gradually returning to their home provinces to find jobs.