>The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential dynamics of Chinese labor migration，based upon an analogy with Mexican labor migration to the United States. It has now been over forty years since the beginning of undocumented Mexico-U.S. labor migration，during which the profile of the migration stream has changed in significant ways. This paper uses the changes in that profile to identify factors at the origin，the destination，and the migration process that have affected its evolution over time，and looks to parallel factors in China that might influence the dynamics of migration there. If migration in China were to respond to changes in these factors in a fashion similar to that linking the U.S. and Mexico，we would expect to see the following changes in the profile of Chinese migration over the next two decades：more migration to the coastal cities，both because of the intensification of migration from current sending areas and the spread of migration to new areas，greater occupational diversification within destination areas leading to higher skill and education of migrants，more women and families in the migrant stream，and more settlement in the cities.