The central government has set up a special department to safeguard the rights of migrant workers, help them get training and ensure safe working conditions.

     The aim of the department of migrant workers' affairs, under the newly formed Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, is to achieve social harmony.

     It will help the workers get their wages in time, sign labor contracts with employers and get proper training, as well as work for their social security. Arranging for large-scale flow of laborers will be part of its job too.

     "Our mission is to carry on the government's unremitting efforts to protect the legal rights of migrant workers," Wang Zhihong, director of the new department, said Monday.

     The other major task would be to select the "best migrant workers" and encourage this not-so-well-educated army to integrate into the urban environment, said Wang, who was chosen on Friday to head the new department.

     The new department is a "landmark" in the government's efforts to help the 150 million migrant workers earn a decent place in cities, experts said.

     Liu Junsheng, a researcher with the labor-wage institute, affiliated to the ministry, said the move reflects the commitment of the leadership to bridge the widening urban-rural divide.

     Since the 1990s, millions of farmers