Using data from a survey of rural-urban migrants in a city in China, this paper investigates the relationships between migrant-resident ties and migrant integration. Migrant integration is assessed with respect to three dimensions: acculturation, socioeconomic integration and psychological integration. Migrant networks are divided into three categories: kin resident ties, non-kin resident ties and non-resident ties. The relation between resources embedded in migrant networks and socioeconomic integration is also examined by translating position-generator data into network resource indices. The results reveal that non-resident ties still make up the majority of migrant networks and migrant-resident ties are significantly associated with migrant integration. The roles of non-kin resident ties in migrant integration are more consequential. They have positive effects on all three dimensions. Considering the different effects of migrant networks on different dimensions of integration, many migrants risk being trapped in permanent poverty and falling into the underclass in city societies.Rural-urban migrants in China not only experience institutional discrimination, but are also stigmatised in various ways by urban societies (Wang et al., 2002;Li et al., 2007) and are far from being integrated into the mainstream of city societies. Previous research on both international and internal migrants has shown that social networks Zhongshan Yue is in the

Using data from a 2005 Survey of rural-urban migrants in Shenzhen, this paper investigates intentions of two groups of migrants. We use the birth years from 1970 to 1980 as a reasonable range of dividing lines to separate the two groups. For each year we divide the sample into those born before that year and those born in or after that year. These are referred to as the old and the new generation, respectively. Three possible development trajectories are considered: settling in cities, returning home to seek a nonagricultural job, and returning home to farm. We find that members of the new generation have stronger desires to do non-farm work, and returning to seek a nonagricultural job has become the most important planned trajectory for this generation. Sharp differences exist between the two generations in the reasons that underlie their intentions. For the old generation, conditions such as age, family responsibility, and type of job are important determinants of intentions, while other conditions such as initial migration motives, social capital, and socioeconomic conditions of origin areas are important for the intentions of the new generation. Thus the new generation is more likely to view migration as a form of investment with the accumulation of human capital and social capital. Those migrants from the old generation who have higher education levels also intend to seek non-farm jobs. However, because of the combined effects of life cycle and the market transition in China, these intentions are not as strong as those of the new generation. We discuss economic and policy implications of our findings.

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