Migration Networks Pattern of China’s Floating Population from the Perspective of Complex Network

Since China’s reform and opening-up, the growing disparity between urban and rural areas and regions has led to massive migration. With China’s Rural Revitalization Strategy and the industrial transfer from the eastern coastal areas to the inland, the migration direction and pattern of the floating population have undergone certain changes. Using the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions of China, organized by China’s National Health Commission, the relationship matrix of the floating population is constructed according to the inflow place of the interviewees and their outflow place (the location of the registered residence) in the questionnaire survey. We then apply the complex network model to analyze the migration direction and network pattern of China’s floating population from the city scale. The migration network shows an obvious hierarchical agglomeration. The first-, second-, third- and fourth-tier distribution cities are municipalities directly under the central government, provincial capital cities, major cities in the central and western regions and ordinary cities in all provinces, respectively. The migration trend is from the central and western regions to the eastern coastal areas. The migration network has ‘small world’ characteristics, forming nine communities. It shows that most node cities in the same community are closely linked and geographically close, indicating that the migration network of floating population is still affected by geographical proximity. Narrowing the urban-rural and regional differences will promote the rational distribution this population. It is necessary to strengthen the reform of the registered residence system, so that the floating population can enjoy urban public services comparable to other populations, and allow migrants to live and work in peace.