Changes in internal migration patterns in China since the beginning of the 1980s are analyzed. The emphasis is on how the economic reforms of the 1970s have affected migration, which used to be governed primarily by political considerations. "Though the old barriers restricting rural-urban migration, especially the household-registration system, are still valid, cities nevertheless suffer from migration-pressure, caused by the agricultural reforms and the continuing economic disparities between city and country. Migrants into cities and towns, still registered as rural inhabitants, are called 'floating population'. Quite a big number (about 15 million people) already have been staying in the cities for more than one year. The drawbacks and advantages for the cities of these mobile population groups are discussed in detail." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE)

"Until well after the Second World War, Canadian immigration policy favoured immigration in general, but it was characterised by ethnic and racial preferences and waves of discrimination. Only after 1962 was a less discriminatory point system...implemented which selected immigrants according to their standard of education and the demands of the Canadian labour market. This policy still indirectly favoured 'old' immigration groups. Since 1978 a new immigration law has been the basis of an annual immigration plan taking into account social, humanitarian, and economic criteria. One of its consequences has been the shift towards a greater proportion of Asian immigrants. This change has led to various tensions in the Canadian public." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE)