Rural to urban migration, crime, and sentencing disparities in Guangdong, China

China has experienced massive internal migration in the past three decades. The rapidly growing urban population, especially the rural to urban migrant population, is the primary social concern on public health and social stability that China is facing in recent decades. The researcher utilized judicial decisions from the Intermediate Level Courts in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China, to examine the characteristics of rural migrant offenders, and to explore the relationship between rural migration, sentencing disparity, and crime. The current study shows that rural migrant offenders are predominantly undereducated and underemployed at the time of offenses. They committed street crimes (e.g., robbery and aggravated assault), and received a relatively harsher fixed-term sentence for the same type of offense compared to urban offenders. The ultimate goal of the current research aims to explore how socio-economic inequalities and informal social control mechanisms are related to social disadvantages, particularly crime.