Existing literature on employer housing provision has established that employers may provide,either long term or short term,when they can lower transaction costs,enhance productivity gains,improve labour control or generate positive social images.These are made possible when employers enjoy monopoly power over the workers.However,these theories based on the experience of other countries in the world cannot explain why,in Chinese cities,employers do not provide housing for skilled workers as did Western employers in the 19th Century; the former rather focuses on providing for low-income and unskilled workers.In this paper,the author argues that the Chinese urban policies have helped to make it worthwhile for some employers to provide accommodations for middle-low income migrant workers.However,they also generate vulnerability in some migrant housing sectors.Three surveys in Tianjin,Taiyuan and Lanzhou are used for the analyses.