This Chinese New Year, something strange is afoot in China

Beijing

EVERY year, tens of millions of China's 246 million migrants return home to celebrate the Chinese New Year. It's the world's biggest annual migration, and it typically goes off smoothly. This year, however, something's amiss.

Although the holiday doesn't start until Feb 8, millions of workers - especially in the construction and electrical-appliance industries - have already returned home due to the country's slowing economy. For local governments across China, this is raising a tough question: What happens if these labourers don't go back to work after the holiday?

The concern isn't a new one. In early 2009, 20 million unemployed migrants returned home for the holidays in the wake of the global financial crisis, raising fears of social unrest. Labour riots did, in fact, take pla…