Anchor: By the end of 2007, the number of migrant workers in China amounted to over 200 million. As a pillar of the country's work force, the welfare and development of this large group of people is now a major concern to the central government.

In this year's National People's Congress, China's top legislature, some migrant workers have been serving as deputies for the first time. Hu Xiaoyan from Guangdong province is one of them. How does the 1st migrant worker NPC deputy feel and what kind of proposals has she put forward? Let's find it out with our reporter Shuangfeng.

REPORTER:
It's morning on March 8th, the International Women's Day. Hu Xiaoyan got up very early, as she's still in an excited mood. Just the day before, she met Premier Wen Jiabao in person when he joined the panel discussion with delegates from Guangdong province. As the first migrant worker to be selected as an NPC deputy, Hu Xiaoyan stood out among the deputies and had a talk with Premier Wen Jiabao.

Premier Wen Jiabao asked about Hu Xiaoyan's life and working condition, and attentively listened to her proposals. Since becoming an NPC deputy, Hu Xiaoyan has spent much of her free time collecting requests and suggestions from fellow migrant workers. Her proposals are all closely related to the lives of migrant workers, such as how to improve their working conditions and emphasizing the importance of their children's education. These proposals are warmly praised by Premier Wen Jiabao.

"All your proposals are very good. These problems will be solved, although it may take time. But we all believe that life for migrant workers in China will definitely become better and better."

Hu Xiaoyan is greatly encouraged by Premier's reply. She says it's the best gift she has ever received on International Women's Day.

"I feel very excited as I can have a direct talk with Premier Wen Jiabao about problems concerning our lives. He wrote down every question we proposed and answered them one by one. It makes me feel that we migrant workers are not negligible to the government."

While feeling excited, Hu Xiaoyan also feels the responsibilities. As one of the 3,000 NPC deputies, she will join the discussions on national affairs and vote on important government policies.

"I'm very proud that I can stand here as an NPC deputy, on behalf of all the migrant workers. So it encourages me to better fulfill my obligation and to be a qualified NPC deputy."

Hu Xiaoyan says her biggest concern is about the need of all the migrant workers, their lives and welfare. Being a migrant worker herself, Hu Xiaoyan fully understands the difficulties and troubles in their lives.

"I went to Guangdong to find a job in 1998, and finally got one after one year's hunting. I worked in an electric factory at first with very limited salary."

After ten years of hardwork, Hu Xiaoyan was promoted from an ordinary worker to a middle-level supervisor in her factory, and her salary quintupled from that of 10 years ago. Although her life has been much improved, she still can't afford the tuition fees in the city. Thus her children were raised in her hometown in a rural area, and she can only see them several times a year. Based on her own experience and her research on fellow migrant workers' situation, Hu Xiaoyan proposes a suggestion on solving the problems about education for migrant workers' children.

"It must be very upset if the parents can't see their children often. For migrant workers who seldom have the chance to see their children, they worry about them day and night. However, to earn a living, they have to work at some places far away from their own children."

Improving the social welfare for migrant workers is another issue that Hu Xiaoyan raises during the discussions. In a work report delivered by Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC, the problem on how to insure that migrant workers receive their salary on time was highlighted. As a deputy on behalf of the migrant workers, Hu Xiaoyan is quite satisfied and confident after hearing the report.

"From the report, I can see that the central government has attached great importance to the lives of us migrant workers. I'm quite confident that all these problems can be solved in the coming future."

From an ordinary migrant worker to a deputy to the country's top legislature, Hu Xiaoyan has experienced many things that are beyond her own imagination. One of them is to be under the spotlight from foreign and domestic media. However, in all the different interviews, she would say the following to the journalists:

"As a deputy representing the welfare of all the migrant workers, I hope the media can pay more attention to the need of all the migrant workers, rather than to me."

BACK ANCHOR:
Thank you, Shuangfeng. I believe more migrant workers will participate in the policy making process.