Beijing is expecting the arrival of about 3,000 additional household servants from Southwest China's Sichuan Province during the lunar Spring Festival to satisfy demand for employees.

According to surveys from the Shanghai Statistics Bureau and the Beijing Home Services Association, less than 15 per cent of household workers in Shanghai and 10 per cent in Beijing are local residents.

Li Dajing, deputy director of the Beijing Household Service Association, said traditional views of treating domestics as servants is the main reason for Beijingers not hiring household servants.

"All these home attendants will be 16- to 45- years old rural women picked by local labour development departments in Sichuan,'' said Song Rui, the general manager of the Anwei Homemaking Service Company, which is organizing the effort.

"And normally, every exported servant is required to receive several days to three months of professional training cooking, laundering, cleaning, in child care, typing and receives psychological guidance.

Three major security firms, including the Beijing-based homemaking service companies, insurance companies and Sichuan-based centres for migrant workers will guarantee the safety and rights and interests of household workers as well as their urban employers.

In Sichuan, a well-known labor exporting province with a population of 85 million, around 7 million laborers are hired out for work in other provinces and metropolises.

On top of that, its household servants are among the most popular among Beijing employers due to their industriousness, intelligence and extraordinary appearance.

It is estimated that as of this year, there are a total of 28,000 home attendants living in Beijing who are from Sichuan.

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