Nine-year-old Zhan Jiayue tells her story of life without her parents
Over the past few decades, China's extraordinary economic rise has been well documented. But what's less well known is the toll it has taken on one group in particular - "left-behind" children.
Over 60 million children are growing up in the countryside while their parents live and work many miles away in the big cities. One in five children in China are left-behind.
Zhan Jiayue is nine years old. She lives in rural Sichuan province where she is looked after by her grandparents. She sees her parents just once a year.
Video by Matthew Goddard
12 Apr 2016
- From the section Asia