This special issue emerges from the observation that the current literatures on migration in China are constrained by a series of shortfalls, including a relative topical homogeneity centred on domestic labour migration, relatively narrowly conceived and institutionalist conceptions of migration and migrants, and a lack of engagement with theoretical models and paradigms in the broad discipline of migration studies. Assembling eight fine-grained research papers engaging with a broad variety of migratory trajectories and experiences, this special issues addresses these shortfalls by: (1) investigating diverse forms of domestic and transnational migration in and to China; (2) problematising and innovating well-established analytical tools and categories in the studies on migration in China; and (3) underscoring the centrality of identity, subjectivity and everyday experiences to theoretical understandings of migration in China. Claims to such contributions are based on a concise but pointed review of the status quo of knowledge on migration in and to China.