As China's economic development faces a transition, education for migrant workers needs to improve, experts said at the three-day Shanghai Forum yesterday.

The forum focuses on the theme of "economic globalization and the choice of Asia: transition, growth and welfare."

"Transition is the start of a new round of development," Mayor Han Zheng said in his address.

More than 300 global representatives discussed how Asian countries should achieve economic transition successfully and maintain fast economic growth as they face challenges in fields such as urban development, energy sources, international order and social equity.

"Asian countries should enhance their cooperation to face common challenges such as energy resource shortage, financial risk, environmental pollution and abnormal climate changes," said Chen Zhili, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of National People's Congress. "It is too hard to depend on a single country's efforts to solve all the issues."

Wu Jinglian, one of the nation's top economists, suggested that China's economic development should be driven by technological progress and efficiency improvements.

He said a great number of labor forces from the countryside had been transferred to urban areas and rural China may face a problem of labor force shortages in the future.

But these migrant workers can only work in positions requiring low technology and skills for their poor education levels. Education on these migrant workers should be improved so that they can create more value.

His point of view was echoed by Yuan Zhigang, dean of the Economy College of Fudan University.

He said it was a difficult task to improve education levels of migrant workers. If migrant workers could be better integrated into the urban community and the income gap between rural and urban people was reduced, domestic consumption could be increased.

(Source: www.shanghai.gov.cn )