HumanTrafficking.org

A web resource for combating human trafficking

China

China National Plan of Action on Combating Trafficking in Women and Children (2008-2012)

The Situation
The People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) is a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking; the majority of which is internal trafficking.

Source
Chinese women and children are trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation in Malaysia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Europe, Canada, Japan, Italy, Burma, Singapore, South Africa, and Taiwan. Many Chinese are recruited by false promises of employment and are later coerced into prostitution or forced labor. Children are sometimes recruited by traffickers who promise their parents that their children can send remittances back home. In poorer areas, most trafficked women are sold as wives to old and disabled unmarried men.¹ In richer areas, most trafficked women are sold to commercial sex businesses, hair salons, massage parlors and bathhouses.² Chinese children were also kidnapped and sold for adoption.³

Transit
China is a transit country for trafficked victims destined to Thailand and Malaysia for commercial sexual exploitation, forced marriage, illegal adoption, begging, and forced labor.⁴

Destination
China is a destination country for women and children who are trafficked from Mongolia, Burma, North Korea, Russia, Vietnam, Ukraine, and Laos for sexual and labor exploitation.⁵ Most women and girls are trafficked from North Korea, Vietnam, Russia, and Burma.⁶ Many North Koreans voluntarily migrate to work in China but are later coerced into exploitative conditions.⁷ North Korean women reportedly were sold for approximately $380 to $1,260 (RMB 3,040 to 10,080). While there are no reliable estimates on the number of trafficking victims in China, the Vietnamese authorities reported that 167 Vietnamese women and children were rescued from traffickers in China.⁸

Internal Trafficking
China has a significant amount of internal trafficking of children for sexual and labor exploitation.⁹ Estimates on the number of victims range from 10,000 to 20,000 each year. International organizations report that 90 percent of internal trafficking vicims are women and children, trafficked primarily from Anhui, Henan, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou Provinces to prosperous provinces along the east coast.¹⁰

Causes
There are many causes of human trafficking in China. The Chinese NGO, All-China Women’s Federation, reports rapid economic development along China’s east coast and 150 surplus laborers in rural areas have resulted in massive internal migration. This mass movement has created opportunities for traffickers to lure women and girls who often migrate at lower ages, and education than men.¹¹   Some experts and NGOs suggested that a shortage of marriageable women fueled the demand for abducted women, especially in rural areas.¹² The UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking argues that poor rural residents in remote areas who lack the legal knowledge and self-protection capacity are prone to victimization.¹³

The Chinese Government
The Chinese Government was placed in the Tier 2 Watch List in the 2007 U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report for not fully complying with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but making significant efforts to do so. The P.R.C. is in the Watch List because it has not increased its efforts to combat trafficking since 2005. There were reports of local officials who are complicit in trafficking, including village leaders who sought to prevent police from rescuing victims.¹⁴

The P.R.C. has not adopted a comprehensive law to criminalize all forms of human trafficking; however it has several laws that can be used to prosecute traffickers. The criminal code criminalizes forced prostitution, abduction, and commercial sexual exploitation of girls under the age of 14, with penalties ranging from life imprisonment to the death penalty. Article 244 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China bans forced labor, with penalties of three years of imprisonment or a fine. China does not specifically prohibit commercial sexual exploitation involving coercion or fraud, nor does it prohibit all forms of trafficking, such as debt bondage.¹⁵

Prosecution
Between 2001 and 2005, police opened more than 28,000 trafficking cases, the Chinese government arrested more than 25,000 suspected traffickers, and rescued more than 35,000 victims.¹⁶   During 2006, China the police investigated 3,371 trafficking cases; provincial governments arrested 371 victims and arrested 415 traffickers. China also cooperated with Vietnamese, Thai and Burmese authorities to rescue victims.¹⁷

Protection
The Chinese Government provides short-term shelters and medical care to trafficking victims along the southern border provinces and in Guangzi. Victims are later assisted with repatriation by NGOs, specifically the All-China Women’s Federation and Save the Children. With funding from the Chinese government, the All-China Women’s Federation provides counseling on legal rights and medical and psychological treatment.¹⁸ China does not adequately identify and provide services to all its trafficking victims; some trafficking victims from North Korea have been deported, and some foreign trafficking victims found in prostitution are punished as criminals. The government does not provide services to Chinese trafficking victims returning from abroad.

Prevention
China has awareness raising programs in select provinces. The Yunnan Province authorities held a media outreach seminar to raise awareness of anti-trafficking strategies, victim protection, and relevant legislation. Sichuan authorities has projects to raise awareness among major labor markets with informational posters, public service announcements on large television screens in the markets; authorities also distribute pamphlets explaining legal protections, resource information, and hotline numbers for migrant workers who are at risk of being trafficked.

Recommendations
The U.S. Department of State recommends that China should take significant measures to improve in these areas; revise its anti-trafficking provisions to align with its international obligations, including prohibiting the commercial sexual exploitation of children under age 18 and all forms of forced labor; and proceed with its plans to finalize and adopt the National Action Plan.¹⁹

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¹ 2006 US Department of State Human Rights Report
² UNIAP: China Overview
³ 2006 US Department of State Human Rights Report
⁴ UNIAP: China Overview
⁵ 2006 US Department of State Human Rights Report
⁶ UNIAP: China Overview
⁷ 2007 US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report
⁸ 2006 US Department of State Human Rights Report
⁹ 2006 US Department of State Human Rights Report
¹⁰ ILO –IPEC: Yunnan Province of China, The Situation
¹¹ All China Women’s Federation: Project to Prevent Trafficking in Girls and Young Women for Labour Exploitation within China
¹² 2006 US Department of State Human Rights Report
¹³ UNIAP: China Overview
¹⁴ 2006 US Department of State Human Rights Report
¹⁵ 2007 US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report
¹⁶ 2006 US Department of State Human Rights Report
¹⁷ 2007 US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report
¹⁸ 2006 US Department of State Human Rights Report
¹⁹ 2007 US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report