On December 17, 2025, the lecture themed Beyond the Agrarian China Attached to Hometowns: Migration, Mobility and Health, part of the Jilin University Academic Lecture Series in Philosophy and Social Sciences, was successfully held on campus. Co-organizers included the Research Institute of Social Sciences, the Northeast Asian Research Center and the Institute of Population, Resources and Environment under the School of Northeast Asian Studies, Jilin University. The speaker was Professor Guo Wei, Vice Dean of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University.
Professor Guo Wei is a Young Changjiang Scholar of the Ministry of Education, Chief Expert for a Major Research Project Tackling Key Issues in Philosophy and Social Sciences sponsored by the Ministry of Education, and member of the Social and Legal Affairs Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Jiu San Society. Faculty and students from the School of Northeast Asian Studies, School of Philosophy and Social Sciences, editorial office of Population Journal at Jilin University, and editorial office of Journal of the Eastern Borderlands at Yanbian University attended the event. Professor Wang Xiaofeng, Director of the Institute of Population, Resources and Environment, School of Northeast Asian Studies, presided over the lecture.
In his talk, Professor Guo pointed out that China has generally completed the transformation from Fei Xiaotong’s classic depiction of an agrarian society where people are deeply attached to native lands and reluctant to relocate, to a mobile China driven by survival, economic and social rationalities. The share of migrant populations in certain cities has kept rising, meeting the sociological definition of "immigrant cities".
He then elaborated on institutional structural effects. Empirical analysis based on Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) data shows that without controlling for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, temporary migrants demonstrate a significantly lower enrollment rate in basic medical insurance compared with local urban hukou holders. This disparity remains statistically significant after controlling for demographic traits alone, yet loses significance once socioeconomic factors are taken into account.
For commercial medical insurance coverage, both temporary and permanent migrants record markedly lower participation rates than urban local residents when demographic and socioeconomic variables are unadjusted. The gap persists for both migrant groups after controlling demographic features, while the disparity between temporary migrants and urban locals narrows after accounting for socioeconomic conditions.
When discussing social structural influences, he argued that migrants’health literacy is shaped not only by individual attributes but also by socioeconomic status measured by educational attainment, whose impact proves substantial. Within the heterogeneous migrant population, whether white-collar mobile workers or rural migrant laborers, individuals with longer years of schooling achieve higher health literacy at equivalent income levels. In closing, Professor Guo proposed a multi-dimensional analytical framework integrating institutional, social and spatial perspectives to systematically examine population migration, mobility and public health. He called for focused research on the health formation logic of diverse migrant groups, so as to unpack underlying causal mechanisms and structural constraints.
Professor Wang Xiaofeng delivered concluding remarks. He commented that framing migrant population research against sweeping historical shifts and weaving relevant analysis around the core thread of health offers tremendous academic inspiration. Professor Guo’s lecture deepens scholarly understanding of the nexus between population mobility and public health in China, and delivers a vital research insight: scholars must break free from the static analytical lens of "agrarian China" and adopt a dynamic perspective of "mobile China" to systematically explore how interactions between institutions, society and space reproduce health inequities.
This demands interdisciplinary methodologies, attention to internal heterogeneity among migrants, and differentiation between structural constraints and individual agency. Relevant research should balance macro-historical depth with micro empirical rigor, linking grand social transformations to individual life courses. Such work can furnish solid evidence for advancing social equity and designing inclusive public policies, enabling academic research to practically support the implementation of the Healthy China Initiative.
