The backbone of China's newfound economic might mainly rests on its manufacturing sector, which experts said could face serious skill shortages soon as millions of Chinese migrant workers gradually return to their rural homes.

The reverse migration from China's industrial centres now poses a serious concern for policy makers in Beijing as the 220-million strong Chinese workforce increasingly feel the pressure of urban living - largely characterised by high-living cost and salary levels that fail to meet the daily basic needs

Shih Yinhong of Renmin University in Beijing is hopeful that the pressing issue will be given premium attention this week as the country's parliament, official known as the National People's Congress, reconvene this week for its annual sitting.

Upheavals have been recorded in the past, which resulted to some positive changes benefitting the Chinese migrant workers but the country's general employment conditions have for the most part failed to uplift their plight, Mr Shih said.

Pays have risen but inflation, which in the past three years soared by an average of 6.5 per cent, erased those benefits.

Mr Shih acknowledged that compared with their rural counterparts, urban Chinese workers receive 60 per cent more and that would remain the case over the next four years but employment situation in the cities would not deter many employees to consider other options outside of working facilities that put together products that the rest of the world cater to.

According to Agence France Presse (AFP), many workers could be lured away from Chinese cities as living costs continue to jump, a prospect that could complicate the snags that economists said could hit China's economy in 2012.

If skills shortage should indeed materialise soon, Beijing needs to take on the problem head on, Mr Shih said.

"The biggest challenge in China now is the social challenge -- balancing between rich and poor, rural and urban -- and the government at the NPC will be looking closely at this," Mr Shih told AFP.

Resolving the matter is crucial for China since constant and stable manufacturing activity would mean that the country will be able to sustain its economic growth, Mr Shih added.

One area that the NPC could focus on is the likely revision on 'hukou' or the government's in-placed residence permit system, which critics said on its present form prevents workers from securing educational and health benefits for their families.

Already, there were signs that the government intends to do some fine-tuning on the hukou system to stave off the likelihood that in the near future, Chinese manufacturers will face difficulties in attracting its own urban graduates.

In Beijing alone, Mr Shih revealed that many of his students have indicated plans of exiting the sprawling city as they don't have the sufficient funds to sustain a gainful existence in it.

"As living costs - including food, accommodation and travel - have recently increased in big cities such as Beijing, some people who had planned to find jobs in these cities have decided to leave," Ze Jianzhao of the Beijing-based Orient Talent recruitment agency told AFP in confirming the emerging problem.

"This has also become a problem for companies who are recruiting there," Mr Ze added.

Part of Beijing's answer to the snowballing situation is the easing down in the procedure of issuing permanent residence permits, especially to individuals who have been determined holding secure employment and residences, according to Yao Yuqun, an expert in labour and human resources, and also from Renmin University.

"The government has already issued the regulation in the state media, but I think the NPC will confirm this," Mr Yao told AFP.

And that should serve as some sort of assurance to the estimated 6.8 million China graduates this year that the government is taking on the matter seriously, expert said.