Chain migration hub: interconnected migration flows in China’s BRI-driven industrialized southwest borderlands in a neijuan era

• In Event: 30225 - Changing Patterns of International Migration: Asian Perspectives

Abstract

This research develops the analytical framework of “Chain Migration Hub” to investigate three interconnected migration flows in China’s southwest borderlands, specifically in Ruili City, Yunnan Province, in the context of the industrialization driven by the Belt and Road Initiative and the pressures of China’s neijuan society. It examines three migration flows: the relocation of industrial capital from China’s coastal regions, the movement of immigrant labor from Myanmar, and the influx of rural Chinese men seeking foreign spouses. These migration waves are shown to reinforce and trigger one another, which contribute to the transformation of Ruili into a chain migration hub. The study highlights how these dynamic flows reshape the local economy, social structure, and the border’s role in broader transnational migration networks. By integrating the discussion of neijuan and the BRI, the research sheds light on the complex relationships between socioeconomic conditions, national strategy, labor mobility, and socio-cultural shifts, which positions Ruili as a microcosm of China’s evolving borderland dynamics.

Authors

• Tianlong You, Yunnan University

• Yingqiao Gu, Yunnan University