China is a country with a huge territory and a large population. One of the consequences is that there is an unbalanced development of societies and economies between regions. Poor rural residents in remote areas lacking legal knowledge and self-protection capacity are prone to victimization. Especially vulnerable are women with lower education levels. They are subject to abduction and trafficking for forced prostitution, forced marriages, etc. In some rural areas, the phenomenon of buying women or children for marriage or to carry on the family name exists. Different situations exist for trafficked women. In poor areas, the majority of trafficked women are sold as wives to old, sickly and disabled unmarried men. In rich areas, most of the trafficked women are brought into entertainment business, hair salons, massage parlours and bathhouses or are sold and forced to work as prostitutes.In recent years, in collaboration with international traffickers, the cases of cross-border trafficking are growing. The trends include trafficking foreign women intoChina and trafficking Chinese women out of China . Those who illegally immigrate and are trafficked into China mainly come from Vietnam , Russia , Korea and Myanmar. Some Chinese women in the southwest areas are trafficked into countries like Thailand and Malaysia . The purposes of cross-border trafficking are diverse, ranging from commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage to illegal adoption, forced labor and begging, etc.

The enormous profits from trafficking stimulate more traffickers to take the risk of doing this business. In recent years, the crime of international human trafficking has become a professional and well-organized trade. Therefore, the main task for the Chinese government and other countries concerned is to crackdown strictly and effectively to prevent trafficking in persons.

Policy Framework

China has placed great emphasis on combating trafficking in women and children. The Chinese government has successively developed a range of laws, regulations and policy. In 1997, China started to implement its new criminal law, with important supplementations and revisions to criminal prosecution of trafficking. It also added the following crimes to the criminal law: the crime of trafficking women and children, the crime of buying trafficked women and children, the crime of mobbing and impeding rescuing trafficked women and children, the crime of non-rescuing trafficked women and children, the crime of kidnapping women and children, and the crime of impeding rescuing trafficked women and children. The new law also augments administrative penalties and enhances punishment levels. In September 1999, in order to guarantee the implementation and enforcement of the criminal law, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued its regulations on cases for direct procurate by the people’s procuratorate. It further defined how cases like non-rescuing of trafficked women and children or impeding the rescue of trafficked women and children will be treated and prosecuted directly. In December 1999, the Supreme People’s Court interpreted the relevant articles that deal with cases of trafficked women. In 2000, the Ministry of Public Security enacted "suggestions for relevant law and regulation in combating criminal cases of trafficking women and children". Furthermore, China has endorsed a series of relevant laws and acts such as Law of Protection of Rights and Interests of Women; Labor Law; Law of Protection of the Minor; Law on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency; Marriage Law; Adoption Law; Regulations on Punishing Criminals of Trafficking and Kidnapping Women and Children; etc. All of these laws and acts serve as a powerful basis and legal protection for rights and interests of women and children. For instance, the Adoption Law stipulates penalties for those who kidnap and traffic children in the name of adoption. In May 2001, the State Council of China created the National Programme for the Development of Chinese Women (2001-2010) and the National Programme of Action for Child Development (2001-2010). They declared that reducing trafficking crimes and other violations of legal rights of women and children would be put on the agenda as the major responsibility for the protection of women and children.

International Conventions

China has attached importance to international cooperation against trafficking in women and children. The laws, policies and regulations formulated in China are in accordance with the principles and regulations of relevant international conventions. China has ratified the following conventions: the Convention on Transnational Organized Crime; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and the ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

The relevant Chinese laws and regulations conform to the regulations of the Convention on Transnational Organized Crime. For example, the criminal law states that leaders of criminal groups be punished by 10 years to life imprisonment, in addition to fine and forfeiture.

In September 1980, the Chinese government ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and submitted to the UN six country reports of the implementation of CEDAW in China from 1982 to 2003. So far, four of these reports have been reviewed. CEDAW states that “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women." On the basis of this regulation, China's criminal law specifies the penalties for trafficking women and abducting, kidnapping, and forcing women into prostitution, selling women for prostitution, and relevant penalties for those who organize prostitution, force women to prostitution, seduce, harbor and serve as pimps in prostitution. All these penalties are in accordance with CEDAW. Moreover, China’s Constitution, Labor Law, and Law of Protection of Rights and Interests of Women address issues related to eliminating discrimination against women.

In 1992, the Chinese government ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child the country report on its implementation from 1995 and 2003. In 1996, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reviewed China’s national report and concluded that the Committee appreciated the efforts made by the Chinese government in its implementation of the CRC. It especially noted the progress in enacting and implementing relevant acts and regulations to protect the rights of children. The review report also raised issues like the trafficking of children in China. These issues have been addressed accordingly by later legislation and judicial practices (for example, in the revised criminal law in 1997). The revised law indicates that the death penalty is not suitable for a minor (including stays of execution). The CRC states that "State Parties shall take measures to combat the illicit transfer and non-return of children abroad", and "States Parties shall take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form." All these regulations have been addressed in China. China’s criminal law hands down rigorous penalties for criminals involved in trafficking of children, buying trafficked children, organizing illegal cross-border migration and transporting illegal migrants across the border.

The ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour states that the member countries must take effective actions to forbid and eliminate the worst forms of child labour. Child labour is forbidden in China . The Criminal Law, Labour Law, Law of Protection of the Minor and the revised Regulations of Forbidding Child Labor in 2002 clearly define the age and concept of child labor as well as the legal responsibilities for employing minors. The Chinese government has enacted relevant regulations in accordance with the Convention. The labour law also prohibits adolescents less than 16 years of age to be fully employed. The Law of Protection of the Minor states that any organizations or individuals employing workers above 16 years of age and under 18 years of age must follow the national guidelines that provide protection in terms of work types, work hours and labor intensity. Organizations or individuals are not allowed to engage them to do dangerous, poisoning and intensive jobs. The law also defines relevant punishments and compensatory responsibilities for the employers. In December 2002, a revised amendment of a new criminal law was approved by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, which added the crime of employing child labor.

Prevention and Protection

The National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council (NWCCW) was founded in February 1990. It is responsible for coordinating and promoting relevant government departments to implement law, regulation and policy-related measures concerning women and children. NWCCW aims to promote and protect the rights of women and children. According to the objectives of the development agendas for women and children, the NWCCW distributes the responsibilities and duties among forty-three government ministries/committees and NGOs. For example, the responsibilities of protecting the rights of women and children and the prohibition of any forms of violence against women have been assigned to the Ministry of Public Security. The responsibility of providing legal aid has been assigned to the Ministry of Justice and the All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF). The main focus of meetings by the standing committee of NWCCW is to gather working reports on preventing and combating the trafficking of children and women from these assigned ministries/committees and work out solutions for action. The NWCCW office as a standing body is responsible to liaise and coordinate with the relevant ministries/committees in charge of preventing and combating of trafficking of children and women.

In November 2001, some ministries/committees such as the Supreme Court; the Supreme Procuratorate; the Ministry of Public Security; the Ministry of Justice; All-China Women’s Federation; the Ministry of Civil Affairs; the Ministry of Labor and Social Security; the Ministry of Agriculture; the Ministry of Culture; the Ministry of Health; National Committee of Population and Family Planning; and National Committee of Industry and Commerce Administration jointly established the national coordinating group to protect the rights and interests of women and children. The coordinating group called focus meetings to discuss how to prevent trafficking in women and children and the settlement of rescued children. The group created work-plans and divided tasks among ministries/committees. The work-plan made it possible to implement and carry out the relevant laws and regulations.

Public Education and Service Delivery to Prevent Human Trafficking

In China, special attention has been paid to raising public awareness of legal issues in the prevention and combating of trafficking of children and women. Great efforts have been made to target the awareness of the high-risk populations such as adolescents, migrating population and parents of young children to enhance their sensitivity and capacity in preventing trafficking. It is hoped that the awareness about trafficking in women and children as a crime will strike the heart of the public. As result, everyone can actively contribute to the prevention and combating of human trafficking and build a supportive environment. In the main destination areas, a lot of work has been done in terms of regulating and disciplining labor markets and providing training and information referral to migrating women to enhance self-protection. Sichuan province is a good example. Since 1997, the municipal government of Chengdu has made the following efforts by conducting dozens of publicity activities in the labor markets, distributing posters and pamphlets to job-hunting women, regulating labor market management, reinforcing control and administration of the job-agencies, uncovering illegal agents, and preventing job juggling. In the main source areas, training courses were offered to raise the legal sensitivity of the villagers and marriage match-making agencies were set-up to reduce the demand of wife-buying. The local governments have consolidated the monitoring and regulating of labor protection and reinforced control over the labor markets. They have also taken action against illegal job agencies, promoted legal employment opportunities and supervised the implementation of labor protection laws.

The Chinese government and NGOs have conducted various activities to prevent trafficking at different levels and include poverty alleviation, agricultural skills training for rural women, re-employment training for laid-off female workers, organizing labor export, and supporting drop-out girls to continue their schooling. The government has enhanced supervision and services to migrants and promoted orderly legal employment opportunities in order to reduce trafficking in high risk populations.

Judicial Response

A comprehensive legal framework to combat trafficking has been developed in China. The criminal law is the cornerstone of the framework, which is supplemented by relevant law, administrative acts and government regulations with operative measures (Cf. part 2. policy framework). Hopefully, as the Chinese government realises the complexity of human trafficking, it is believed the legislation will be improved.

Arrest and Prosecution

During the last decade, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has played a key role in the national fight against trafficking in women and children. From 1991 to 2000, MPS organized four campaigns to combat trafficking women and children in selected areas across the country. From 2001 to 2003, the police cracked down on 20,360 cases of trafficking women and children, arrested 22,018 criminals, and rescued 42,215 trafficked women and children. The local procuratorate approved 7,185 arrest cases of trafficking in women and children, arresting 13995 suspects and approved 226 arrest cases of buying trafficked women and children, arresting 416 suspects. 8,442 cases of trafficking in women and children were brought to court by public prosecutions, which involved 15,005 defendants. 177 cases of buying trafficked women and children were brought to court by public prosecutions, which involved 358 defendants

Support to the Victims

The Chinese government has paid more attention to supporting and assisting the victims of trafficking. In Kunming ( Yunnan province), Xuzhou ( Jiangsu province) and Chengdu ( Sichuan province), three centers of transfer, training and rehabilitation for trafficked women and children were set up. They provide services for more than 2000 trafficked women, accommodating and rehabilitating them physically and psychologically. The centers are responsible for helping the victims to return home safely. Throughout the anti-trafficking campaigns that rescued trafficked women and children in 2000, the MPS used DNA testing to ensure that children were correctly reunited with their parents for the first time and helped 513 children reunite with their birth parents.

Another avenue for victim support in China is the use of socialized rights protection agencies to provide legal aid and services to these women and children. By the end of May 2003, there were more than 8000 legal aid centers or legal counseling centers in 330 cities/prefectures throughout 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

International Cooperation

Trafficking is a national, regional and global issue and for this reason, international cooperation is of great importance. The Chinese government has been involved in a range of international counter-trafficking forums such as the Bangkok Declaration on Irregular Migration; Asia Pacific Consultation; Manila Process; Bali Ministerial Meetings on Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling; Asian Regional Initiative Against Trafficking in Women and Children (ARIAT); and Regional Commitment and Action Plan of the East Asia and Pacific Region against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.

By the end of May 2004, China had signed extradition treaties with 21 countries and signed mutual legal assistance treaties with 32 countries. On the basis of the above conventions, China cooperated with other countries to extradite criminals back to China for punishment. China MPS is also involved in law enforcement cooperation with foreign countries. MPS signed 72 agreements on law enforcement cooperation with concerned agencies of 41 countries. In Mekong Sub-Region, China has bilateral agreements with Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand focusing mainly on cross-border cooperation to combat human trafficking.

In terms of law enforcement, China works closely with Interpol and its member countries to exchange information on cases, rescuing victims, and investigations. In 2004, the MPS cooperated closely with Malaysian police and successfully arrested criminals and rescued 26 Chinese women who were trafficked into Malaysia for prostitution. China also actively participates in enforcement cooperation with neighboring countries and the MPS has worked with police from Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar. To further strengthen cooperation, China and Vietnam have come together at the senior official level to discuss information sharing, repatriation mechanisms, situational assessments, and communication campaigns.

China is actively involved in collaborative prevention projects with international organizations and NGOs. For instance, Chinese agencies have collaborated with ILO-IPEC, UNICEF, UNIAP and SC-UK to implement projects.

In cooperation with the All-China Women’s Federation and UNICEF, China MPS conducted an “Anti-Trafficking and Violence against Women and Children” project. Since 1999, 15 training courses have been offered to police responsible for combating trafficking in 10 selected provinces. A total of 10,000 police were trained. In eight provinces with high trafficking rates, a broad range of public education programs were implemented with more than 100,000 beneficiaries. In October 2002, a Zero Tolerance trafficking campaign was initiated in Xinye ( Henan province) as another initiative under the project. In collaboration with several departments, the project aimed to reduce the number of trafficked women and children. ACWF, MPS and UNICEF's Project to Combat Trafficking and Violence against Children and Women developed an Anti-Trafficking Logo that was launched in China in March 2004. The main goal was to attract public attention and promote caring, understanding and support to anti-trafficking work in China. A joint communication campaign to combat cross border trafficking between China and Vietnam was also launched on 3 June 2004. Separate launching ceremonies were respectively conducted. ACWF in collaboration with UNICEF conducted a pilot project in Renshou, Sichuan to prevent trafficking. The project included comprehensive measures, social mobilization, mass media monitoring, financial support to related communities and families, helping the victims to reintegrate into the mainstream social life, and initiating dialogue between governments among the neighboring countries. The aim was to help to rescue, repatriate, and re-integrate victims into their home countries. Innovative approaches were adopted by this project. Using a participatory approach, the beneficiaries and former trafficking victims were invited to participate in meetings, project activities, and project implementation. Moreover, former victims were consulted on the effectiveness of the IEC materials.

ACWF works closely with ILO-IPEC on a project in Yunnan Province titled “ILO Mekong Sub-Regional Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women”. The project offers gender sensitivity training and agricultural skills training to the local people. It also provides micro-credit loans to improve living conditions for local women and aims to increase the schooling rate for girls with the ultimate goal to reduce the migration of women into local communities. Moreover, it aims to increase protection for women by developing safer migration channels and promoting labor skills that provide economic alternatives to migration.

ACWF and MPS in Yunnan and Guangxi in cooperation with SC-UK, implemented a community-based project to prevent trafficking women and children. After the successful implementation of the first stage, the project was expanded to over other regions. The activities in the second phase are currently being implemented. The target populations (mainly children and youth) include both domestic trafficking and cross-border trafficking throughout the Mekong Sub-Region. It also aims to help victims to return home safely and start a new life.

The NWCCW office actively participated in UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (UNIAP). It makes full use of its coordination mandate among relevant government departments, UN agencies and NGOs to share information and resources with relevant key agencies. A multi-agency strategy is critical in the prevention and combating of trafficking of children and women. A baseline survey was conducted in selected sites in Yunnan and Guangxi. IEC materials were printed and distributed to the local communities. A seminar on combating cross-border trafficking in women and children was held in Guangxi in cooperation with MPS. In 2004, the NWCCW, UNIAP, and UNDP organized the first inter-agency seminar on trafficking. The seminar brought together key government agencies, NGOs, and UN agencies in China. This was a significant step in strengthening cooperation between anti-trafficking projects within China. Another inter-agency meeting that involved five provinces was also held in Yunnan to exchange best practices and information about trafficking prevention. The main task in 2004 for the UNIAP is to coordinate and prepare the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking. The purpose of this initiative is to encourage the six participating countries ( Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and China ) to sign an agreement that fights against trafficking, protects the rights of human trafficking victims, and outlines measures to address cross-border human trafficking in the region.

China has benefited a lot from experiences of international collaborative projects on preventing and combating of trafficking of children and women in the past years. The staff involved in the projects have broadened their views, accumulated experience, and increased their knowledge of human trafficking. The public has developed a clear sense of combating trafficking both at the community and family levels. Various levels of governmental officials have also improved their capacity and understanding of combating trafficking.

Trafficking in persons has been a well-organized profitable business for the traffickers. It is a grave violation of the rights of women and children and seriously harms their physical and psychological health. Solutions to this grave problem should involve domestic efforts as well as international cooperation. The Chinese government takes its duty and responsibilities to prevent and prohibit domestic and cross-border human trafficking seriously and fulfils its commitments to the international community. Positive measures will continue to be initiated in China including alleviating poverty, increasing chances for employment, improving legislation and law enforcement, public education, and building a long-term social mechanism to prevent trafficking. The Chinese government hopes to further develop cooperation with neighboring countries, especially judicial cooperation with the countries of the Mekong Sub-Region in terms of sharing information, resources, experiences, and lessons-learned. More efforts will be made to develop more bilateral and multilateral cooperation to jointly cope with the trafficking of human beings.