Farmer-turned migrant workers in Guangdong will be able to receive unemployment benefits, like their urban counterparts, from July 2014, Guangzhou Daily reported.

The benefits will be the same as those enjoyed by urban residents, according to the Rules on Unemployment Insurance of Guangdong Province.

The rules were announced by the Guangdong provincial department of human resources and social security on Tuesday and will be effective from July next year.

Currently, migrant workers are entitled for one-time living subsidies only if they are laid off in an urban area, the newspaper said. Some 400,700 migrant workers had received one-time subsidies by the end of 2012.

Migrant workers will benefit from the new rules, which aim to protect their legal rights and interests.