The World : China Bars Peasant Exodus

China ordered a halt to the movement of hundreds of thousands of peasants who have crowded into major cities during the past month in search of work. China’s State Council said that the mass exodus from the countryside has created chaotic law-and-order problems in the cities. It instructed municipal authorities to “persuade” the peasants to return to their homes in the country but did not say how this is to be achieved. It also ordered local authorities to try to keep peasants at home and instructed transportation companies to reduce services in the areas worst hit by the exodus.