A 36-year-old migrant worker named Fan Shusheng said a face-to-face talk with Premier Wen Jiabao last February changed his life.

"The construction company registered a pay card for every worker here and no longer defaults on our pay," said Fan, who is still working at a building site in suburban Beijing.

Last year, he was one of 12 grassroots deputies from various fields invited by Wen to a conference room of the State Council to make suggestions to the report on the work of the government.

It was the first time that the government had asked for input from grassroots deputies.

Looking back, Fan said that he experienced various emotions. He said: "I never dreamed of telling my thoughts to the Premier face-to-face as an ordinary migrant worker."

Fan prepared a long speech. To his surprise, he was interrupted before he finished the conventional greetings. Wen asked him to speak about his problems and thoughts frankly.

"I was nervous without the speech paper. I finally told Wen all my problems, including low pay, high tuition for my children and problems with endowment insurance (pension) and hospitalization insurance."

Fan found Wen listened to him earnestly and promised to carry out relevant policies to solve these problems, step by step.

China has more than 200 million migrant workers like Fan, most of whom are doing heavy labor in cities far from home. They are the main labor force of urban construction and community services. Problems related to these workers have become important government concerns.

One month after the meeting that Fan attended, Wen said in the "Report on the Work of Government (2007)" that the government will "ensure the plan to make nine-year compulsory education generally available" and be sure that "all children are able to afford and attend school."

The report also said: "We will accelerate the establishment of a social safety net targeted at rural migrant workers in cities, with the focus on signing them up for workers' compensation insurance and major medical insurance."

"I feel that the Premier's promises are directly addressed to me, as all the new policies target the problems I outlined to him," said Fan.

These promises were realized gradually. Fan's pay rose from 80 yuan (about US$11.3) to 100 yuan (about US$14.1) a day. He plans to save money to become a contractor in the near future.

Fan's two children who stayed behind in his home town in central Henan Province also benefit from the new policies.

The report said that the government allocations of 2007 for rural compulsory education would total 223.5 billion yuan, up 29.5 billion yuan from 2006.

"All tuition was canceled, which saved my family 1,500 yuan over a whole year. My burden decreased a lot," Fan said.

Fan also gained stature as someone able to give suggestions to Wen, so now he must help relatives and friends who consider him as a person of some importance. Fan said he could help solve some problems as he had come to know more officials and reporters after the talk last year.

Most importantly, he had changed his mind and wanted to learn about policies and laws to safeguard his legal rights and interests. "The only thing I used to think about was earning my daily bread, but after the talk I started to care about learning laws through newspapers and TV," he said.

Yang Ruifeng, a fellow worker, said that he wanted to consult Fan whenever he had problems. Following Fan's suggestions, Yang was able to get his pay before the Spring Festival. "He told us it was wrong and useless to threaten the boss with committing suicide. We should turn to the government with legal materials," Yang said.

"He is much more talkative than before," said Fan's wife, Zhang Xianfen. The 36-year-old woman moved to Beijing a month ago to work with her husband on the same building site.

Fan found his life had improved in recent years. "Our social stature has risen. We eat better and live better. People treat us much more politely than ever before," Fan said.

But there are still problems in the migrant workers' lives, such as the problem of retirement. "What can we do with so little pay in our later years, as some companies do not offer endowment insurance?" he worried.

Last year was one of transition for Fan. He has been waiting to see the new government report. He believes that the government will pay more attention to migrant workers.

For the future, he hopes that all migrant workers can get endowment and hospitalization insurance, and that he can earn more.

This year, he says: "Life will be better and more promising."

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2008)