China has a highly mobile population of 140 million rural-to-urban migrants (10% of the total population), a number that is expected to increase in the coming decade. Migrants tend to follow a temporary and circular pattern, moving between cities and provinces in search of improved opportunities. Overall, the migrant population tends to be younger, and is more likely to be male and single, than the general population, although more women and families have also started to migrate in recent years and more people are settling in cities. Indicators of socioeconomic status place the migrants below that of the urban population but above their rural counterparts.

Migrants are largely excluded from urban services, including access to public health. National policy has long been established on locality-based schemes that depend on household registration (hukou), which is not easily transferable from rural to urban areas. Migrants, therefore, do not qualify for public medical insurance and assistance programmes, and have to pay out-of-pocket expenses for medical services in cities.