Editor's note: Though child labor is banned in China, children under 16 are still hired by many firms. Following are some examples:

Xiao Liao (name changed), a migrant child laborer, left his home in the mountain-locked Baise area of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region after dropping out of elementary school.

He has toiled in a factory making bags in Dongguan for four years. Now an "old hand" and soon to be father, he is just 17 years old. His girlfriend was fired when her boss came to know about her pregnancy. A migrant worker too, she is expecting her child in two months.

His meager wage of 630 yuan ($82) a month is hardly enough even for the basics. He gives his girlfriend 200 yuan ($26) and spends another 200 on cigarettes. The rest takes care of other expenses. "It would be a great if I got 800 yuan ($103)." A chain smoker, Xiao flipped open a pack to light another cigarette as he said that.

"Then I can save some money to support my family." Troubled by bad health, his parents back at home could not afford to pay for his younger sister's education. But a disillusioned Xiao could not make it better even in the city. He doesn't have a penny's worth of saving even after four years of backbreaking labor. "I'm fed up I've visited Baise just once in three years," he says.

Xiao Liao is not the only child laborer in the Dongguan bag-making factory. His fellow worker Xiao Peng (name changed) is from Henan Province, and is just about 16. Since he is younger that Xiao Liao, he gets paid less to run errands: 520 yuan ($68) a month.

Though he was a top student in primary school, his introverted nature got him hooked to video games, and he quit studying after junior middle school. He is deft with tools and can even repair his alarm clock and Walkman. His dream: to master the skill to repair big machines just like the experts in the factory. Why? "Because," Xiao Peng said: "(the repairmen) earn a lot while doing a little."

Dong Yang (name changed), also from Henan, was born in 1991.

He is a second-generation migrant worker in Dongguan. He quit junior middle school after a year to join his parents who had long been working in the city. He joined the same factory that Xiao Liao and Xiao Peng work for. A shy boy, Dong just smiles at the questions. He blushes when a girlfriend is mentioned. "Too early for that" are the only words he would say.

(China Daily 02/08/2007 page4)