Understanding the intergroup relations of migrants in China

Abstract

Abstract The existing integration literature in the Chinese context has mostly focused on migrants' relations with receiving contexts, such as place attachment and settlement intention. Few attempts have been made to investigate migrants' relations with local residents, a better indicator of migrants' integration. Based on the 2014 China Migrants Dynamic Survey, this study scrutinises how environmental factors and individual factors affect migrants' intergroup relations in China. The analysis shows that migrants who live in more migrant‐concentrated neighbourhoods and who stay in more developed cities with a higher presence of migrants tend to suffer from worse intergroup relations. This implies that no matter at which level the migrant concentration exists, it can hinder migrants' intergroup relations. Moreover, both higher socioeconomic status and acculturation can significantly improve migrants' intergroup relations, indicating that acculturation also plays an important role in the relatively homogeneous society.