As workers emigrate from rural areas to cities, tens of millions of children are left behind. Sometimes under the care of relatives, often unsupervised.
Current laws mean many people can only access public services in the villages they come from, meaning migrant workers' children are often forced to stay behind in order to continue their education.
More than two million children are thought to have been left to fend for themselves.
The move to document the number of cases of children left behind as their parents seek work comes after reports on the plight of children who are often put in the care of older relatives or are sometimes abandoned.
In some schools in China, 80 per cent of pupils are growing up without their parents present.
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