Concerned departments in China will speed up legislation next year to guarantee payment of migrant workers in construction sector, said a senior official Monday.

Laws and regulations will help to protect rights of migrant workers, including their payment, said Minister of Construction Wang Guangtao at a national work meeting.

Migrant workers, who are mainly engaged in construction sector, have suffered a lot from delayed payment or even denied payment due to lack of protection mechanism.

The labor pay of migrant workers earned in cities is the major source of income in some areas and a good channel to raise farmers' income as well. The State Council required that all migrant workers in construction sector get their delayed pay in 2006.

Statistics with the Ministry of Construction show that by Dec. 25 of this year, 94 percent of migrant workers' defaulted payment has been delivered for government-invested construction projects completed before the end of 2003.

More efforts would be made to speed up payment liquidation in non-government-funded projects next year, said Wang.

Wang also mentioned at the meeting that skill training will be offered to help migrant workers in job hunting and the government will improve sanitation in living places of migrant workers next year.

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2005)