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Government Action Plans

Government of China's Plan of Action To Prevent, Protect, Prosecute and Reintegrate¹

Under the unified leadership of the Central Committee and the State Council, local party commissions and government currently prioritize actions to combat human trafficking. In provinces infested by the crime of trafficking in women and children, officials from the police, the procurator, the court, the civil departments, the news media, the women's federation, trade unions and the Communist Youth League are tasked to coordinate efforts to combat trafficking of humans.

Women's organizations in China have been especially effective in creating awareness among illiterate women who are more vulnerable to being trafficked. Seminars and training courses sponsored by these organizations raise awareness about laws and policies against trafficking. Printed materials such as the anti-trafficking manual prepared by the All China Women's Federation and the Ministry of Justice are made available. Experts are organized to offer legal advice in provinces where human trafficking is common. Government agents as well as NGO representatives pay regular follow-up visits to women delivered from trafficking. They also encourage the community to take good care of these women rather than to discard them.

Chinese police have been active in pursuing traffickers. 8,290 trafficking cases involving 1,928 trafficking groups and 4,709 traffickers were prosecuted and 10,503 victims were released (including 1,563 children) during the period 1996-1998.

There are several laws that directly address trafficking or the socio-economic conditions that make persons susceptible to being trafficked. In 1991, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress called for action against the abduction for sale of women and children, kidnapping of women and children, kidnapping for purposes of blackmail, purchase of abducted and kidnapped women and children, and abuse of office to hinder the rescue of abducted and kidnapped women and children. This led to the adoption of a criminal law, Article 141, which outlines for penalties for the abduction, purchase, sale, and delivery of women and children. The penalties were increased in 1997.

Several other laws are intended to help protect women and children from abuse (including trafficking). The 1992 Law of the Protection of Women's Rights prohibits the abduction, trafficking and purchase of women. China's Protection of Minors Act of 1991 obliges parents to stop children from engaging in prostitution. The country's Adoption Act of 1991 forbids the sale of children for adoption. In 1986 China passed a law on compulsory education (nine years), which should help to keep children out of the labor market. In 1991, regulations on child labor were issued prohibiting use of child laborers under sixteen years of age.

In July 1994, the Ministry of Supervision, the Foreign Affairs Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Safety, and the Ministry of Culture issued a joint notice on 'Resolute Prohibition and Serious Punishment to the Dispatch of Young Women Abroad for Pornographic Services by Channels of Labor Export and Illegal Immigration'. This notice strictly prohibits any department or unit from sending young women abroad to engage in overt or covert sexual activities. Those who have violated the law shall be punished legally.

China is a signatory to the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on Children's Rights (CCR). This obliges the Chinese government to pay attention to the crimes of abduction and trafficking of women and children.

A number of national level government agencies are involved in combating trafficking in some way. They include the Ministry of Public Security, Supreme People's Court, Legislative Office of the State Council, Central Office in Charge of Comprehensive Management of Public Order, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Supreme People's Procuratorate.

¹Portions of this section are based on Vitit Muntarbhorn, The Nation. Bangkok; Section: Editorial/Opinion Date: 1/7/98