Financial crisis drives away 600,000 migrants from Guangdong(Xinhua)Updated: 2009-01-08 20:28BEIJING - An estimated 600,000 migrant workers have left China's southern Guangdong Province due to unemployment in 2008 after the worldwide financial crisis hit the region, a government official said TGuangdong Province Vice Governor Huang Yunlong revealed the statistics at a press conference after the country's top economic planner released a long-term plan to develop the Pearl River DGuangdong is the forefront of the country's reform and opening Since 1978, the province's annual gross domestic product (GDP) has increased by an average of 45 percent, 5 percentage points higher than the nation's The Pearl River Delta in southern Guangdong is the country's manufacturing and exporting However, the financial crisis has brought Guangdong "the most difficult year after the 1998 Asian financial crisis", Huang "More than 143,000 migrant workers left Guangdong in the first half of By the end of last October, the number reached 500, The Guangdong statistics bureau estimated that a total of 600,000 migrant workers might have left the province last year," he Other major economic indicators in Guangdong, including GDP, importing and exporting, also slowed in Local fiscal revenue slowed down 9 percentage points over that of Yet Huang insisted that Guangdong had a good ground for future In 2008, Guangdong's GDP grew 1 percent year-on-year, despite a slowed growth rate by 6 percentage The GDP per capita increased 7 Foreign trade industry, a driving force of the province's economy, increased by 2 percent, of which exporting and importing grew by 6 percent and 1 percent, However, the total volume of importing and exporting slowed 1 percentage points over According to the Guangdong Statistics Bureau, 100,600 companies were established in 2008, while 62,400 had been The province now has more than 996,900 registered Meanwhile, Guangdong has been trying to improve conditions for migrant In 2008, 55 million migrant workers joined medical insurance, 5 million are included in work injury insurance and 58 million joined unemployment insurance "These figures are all N 1 in China in treating migrant workers," Huang said