While serving noodles to migrant Chinese works returning to their provinces for the Lunar New Year celebration, Premier Li Keqiang also promised them that he would craft policies that would offer financial assistance and technical support to citizens willing to return to the hometown and restart their lives.

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Li acknowledged their contributions to the Chinese economy and labeled them as heroes, reports China.org.

Li interacted with migrant workers by preparing instant noodles at a highway rest stop on Saturday. It was the second day of his Chinese New Year tour to Guizhou Province in China's southwest.

He was seen pouring hot water from a thermos jug into bowls of instant noodles. One of those whom he gave the bowl to was Wu Zhiyong, who was on his way to Liping County for the Lunar New Year celebrations.

Citing the ingredients used to make the noodles, which was cooked in pickled Chinese cabbage flavor - a local menu known for its distinctive Guizhou character - Li told Hu while giving him the noodles that "Local flavor is calling you back."

Wu shared that he has been working in Guangdong for 27 years after his son was born. Now, the son is an adult and is about to get married in 2016. He expressed willingness to go back to his hometown for good - a desire shared by many Chinese migrant workers - despite lower income in Guizhou compared to those in coastal provinces.

Meanwhile, for some migrant workers, returning home empty-handed is a possibility such as the 40 hired by construction contractor Yang Minghong in 2012 to build cow sheds for a Henan company. While construction proceeded, the workers have been chasing Yang for their salaries that remain unpaid.

Yang sued the local company for 3.2 million yuan, but while the court ruled in his favor, the decision was an empty victory because the legal officer of the Henan firm had run off with the company's money. The only recourse left for Yang and the 40 migrant workers is for the court to find another firm that would buy the remaining asset of the Henan company with whom Yang had a contract, and use the proceeds of the sales to pay Yang and his workers, reports CNTV.

TagsLi Keqiang, Spring Festival travel, migrant workers