Introduction

Trafficking in personsFootnote 1 is a global crime that occurs on a large scale, with studies showing that hundreds of thousands of human trafficking crimes occur globally each year (U.S., 2005). In fact, human trafficking has become the third most lucrative illegal activity globally (Dong, 2014). The issue of human trafficking in China is particularly distinctive as it predominantly victimizes women and children. Factors such as poverty, cultural traditions, the one-child policy,Footnote 2 and the allure of high profits with low risks, coupled with legal loopholes and inadequate law enforcement, contribute to the persistent existence of this heinous crime (Shen et al., 2013). While sexual deprivation and sexual transactions may also contribute to these crimes, there is currently no universally accepted empirical evidence to substantiate this claim (Lange and Liu, 2012; Lavorgna et al., 2014). The government has enacted specific legislation aimed at combatting crimes that gravely violate the personal rights and interests of women and children, such as trafficking and the purchase of trafficked individuals. Additionally, efforts have been made to address and control other forms of social crimes (Tian, 2017). However, despite these measures, these criminal activities have not been completely eradicated. The well-documented phenomena of the “Vietnamese bride”, “mail-order bride” and “bachelor village” shed light on the ongoing challenges in the rural marriage market, revealing the disturbing reality of transnational trafficking of women (Shang and Liu, 2019).

Domestic researchers have focused on the issue of human trafficking crimes in China from the perspectives of jurisprudence, criminology, and sociology. In research on criminal jurisprudence, there has been a predominant emphasis on legal countermeasures and legislative improvements (Han, 1991), with the greatest calls being for increased punishment (Luo, 2022). It is argued that the acts of buying and selling individuals as commodities are equally wrong, and that current judicial lenience towards buying is unacceptable. In other words, the act of abduction and buying are equally offensive, and the punishment for buying should be strengthened. Buying should be clarified as a felony at the legislative level, and the legal penalty should be increased accordingly (Lao, 2022). However, there are also opposing voices. Comparing penalties alone is inadequate to show the nature and degree of legal benefit infringement in two crimes. Criminal law should not solely depend on heavy penalties and should be reinforced in other ways. Increasing penalties through legislation based on a heavy penalization mindset is too extreme and irrational. (Chen, 2022). Due to regional differences in such crimes, some researchers have used web crawling technology to obtain judgment documents from 2014 to 2016 and have compiled the situation of high-incidence areas of such cases in Shandong, Henan, Fujian, Yunnan, and other regions (Yanyu and Tianji, 2018). The patterns and causes of such crimes need to be analyzed in depth (Lan, 2020) to find effective means of crime management, prevention, and control (Chen, 2021). Consequently, some researchers have analyzed the factors behind trafficking crimes from the viewpoint of female perpetrators (Shen, 2016). Moreover, other scholars have studied trafficking crimes geographically, revealing their distribution patterns, regional differences, and formation mechanisms (Li et al., 2020; Xue et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2021). Research on human trafficking began earlier in other countries than in China, with a main focus on human rights and legal theories (U S, 2007; U N, 2005; Laczko and Gramegna, 2003). Studies that focus on extreme cases or crimes in specific regions can be prone to the fallacy of generalization. In China, the issue of trafficking in persons is highly variable across regions. Although the crime of trafficking has been punishable for some time, it has not been eradicated and has evolved with the adoption of new forms of concealment, chain formation, and industrialization (Jin et al., 2017).

The previous research from different perspectives has explored the issue of human trafficking in China in a beneficial way. However, how has China responded to the crime of trafficking in women and children since its criminalization in 1979? What is the overall effectiveness of governance? Is the call to increase the punishment for this type of crime through criminal law amendment and to implement the same punishment for buying and selling valid? The recent case of the “chained woman” in Fengxian CountyFootnote 3 has once again aroused the attention of the academic community to this issue. These questions are worth exploring in depth. This paper aims to clarify current legislation and judicial practices by gathering and statistically analyzing data from the “Beida FaBao” database on judicial cases, core issues, and legal basis related to the crime of trafficking in women and children and the crime of buying trafficked women and children. The purpose of the study is to identify and summarize the common features of current practice and reveal the logic and trends in criminal policy behind these features (Lao, 2022). This study provides an overview of the crimes that are currently related to trafficking in China and serves as a reference to advance research in this field.

Data collection and research methodology

Data collection

As transparency of the judiciary in China has increased, online platforms such as Beida Fabao, Magistrate’s Paper, and Alpha I Court have made the outcomes of the vast majority of cases available for public access. Beida Fabao, founded by Peking University in 1985, is the earliest and most comprehensive legal database in China, renowned for its authoritative data collection. For this study, Beida Fabao was selected as the database for obtaining information on relevant adjudication documents, typical cases, and legal and regulatory materials.Footnote 4 To establish the search criteria, a specific combination of parameters was adopted based on the platform’s search settings. By entering “trafficking in women and children” in the “Topic Classification” field, a total of 21,690 judicial cases were retrieved, along with information on their reference level, type of case, court level, trial court, trial procedure, type of document, year of trial, final trial result, type of disclosure, and document length. In the “Laws and Regulations” section of the platform, a search was conducted for the title “Trafficking in women and children”, resulting in 24 central regulations, 78 local regulations, 3 legislative materials, and 17 legal developments, each with its level of validity. These data were used to analyze the legal framework and judicial practice related to trafficking in women and children in China.

Measurements

The data were manually verified and assessed for accuracy. This was followed by a manual check of the number of valid cases and the number of trafficked women. In line with the study’s objectives, the 21,690 documents were analyzed for content, and documents with irrelevant charges (e.g., judgments on other crimes), duplicate cases (i.e., identical judgments for the same case with minor differences in titles generated by the system—including cases in the second instance), personal information, and invalidated documents were removed. The final results were filtered accordingly.

Analytical methods

To enhance the legitimacy and robustness of our research, we employed various empirical analysis and interpretive methods, including literature review, mathematical statistics, and comparative studies of specific indicators. We also utilized visualization tools, such as charts and graphs, to present relevant data in a more intuitive way. Additionally, we used MATLAB software to conduct in-depth analysis of changes in the number of cases handled over the years, employing benchmark panel regression models, robustness tests, and mechanism tests.

Evolving perspectives on punishment for trafficking in women and children in 21st century criminal legislation: towards differentiation and mitigation

The recent public outcry over the ‘woman in chains’ case in Fengxian County has once again sparked discussions in the academic community about the crime of trafficking in women and children. A key question that arises is whether the leniency of the justice system toward those who buy trafficked women and children encourages the continued occurrence of such crimes. Should the existing legislation be adjusted to enforce equal punishment for the sale and purchase of women and children? This question is best examined through a case-by-case analysis that reflects a humanistic concern for justice in a civilized society governed by the rule of law. However, in cases of major legislative adjustments, it is important to review the overall judicial practice to determine whether revising the law is both possible and necessary. Legal revisions should not be based solely on compassion for individual victims, as this approach may be too emotional and irrational.

The orientation of criminal legislation before the 21st century: a judicial tendency toward heavier and more severe punishment

The crimes of abducting and selling women and children and of buying abducted women and children have been treated as distinct crimes under different provisions at different times in China. The earliest legislation on human trafficking was introduced in the 1979 Criminal Law, which prescribed a fixed-term imprisonment of up to five years for anyone who abducted and sold human beings. Subsequent amendments to the law have expanded the scope of these crimes and increased the severity of the punishment. For example, the 1983 “Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on the Severe Punishment of Criminals Seriously Endangering Social Security” upgraded the punishment for human trafficking syndicates to the death penalty. The 1991 “Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on the Severe Punishment of Criminals Guilty of Abducting, Trafficking, and Kidnapping Women and Children” made it a crime to buy abducted women and children and to obstruct the rescue of those who have been bought. Further amendments were made to the 1997 Criminal Law, establishing the crime of abducting and selling women and children and classifying the kidnapping of women and children for the purpose of selling them as a crime of kidnapping. The law also added new crimes, such as failing to rescue abducted women and children, and replaced the previous fine system with an unlimited fine or property confiscation. These changes have increased the severity of punishment for these crimes and reflect a growing recognition of the seriousness of human trafficking in China.

Changes in criminal legislation in the 21st century: judicial adaptation of differentiation and mitigation

The punishment for crimes involving the abduction and trafficking of women and children has been strengthened in China over time, with efforts to eliminate these crimes becoming more differentiated and less intense. An amendment to the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China in 2015 introduced the possibility of lighter punishment for buyers of abducted women and children who do not abuse or hinder the rescue of the victims. However, controversies over mitigated sentencing for this crime persisted, leading to the subsuming of buying and reselling under the act of abduction. This move aimed to highlight the importance of protecting children and to curb the occurrence of these crimes at the source. However, some have argued that the current sentencing standards for trafficking in women and children are not sufficient and have proposed increasing the starting point for punishment to more than ten years of fixed-term imprisonment or the death penalty. To strengthen the protection of women’s and children’s rights and interests, the Supreme Court, Supreme Prosecutor, and Ministry of Public Security have issued regulations and interpretations to adapt the punishment for these crimes” (Chen and Zhang, 2022). Specific legislation, judicial interpretations, and departmental regulations are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 China’s legislation, judicial interpretations, and departmental regulations pertaining to the crime of human trafficking.
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Analysis of the national trend in trafficking crimes: the impact of judicial policies in China

The legal system serves as the foundation for managing cases of trafficking and the purchase of women and children, but effective judicial practices are equally crucial. A robust legal system that protects women and children must be accompanied by standardized judicial behavior in practice. In this section, we will collect and analyze data from the judicial case database ‘Beida Fabao’ to provide more accurate information on judicial trials. Specifically, we will examine the overall distribution of crimes involving trafficking and the purchase of women and children, the main types of cases, and the length and types of sentences received. Through this analysis, we aim to gain insights into the jurisprudence specific to these crimes and identify areas for improvement in the legal and judicial systems.Footnote 5

Analysis of judicial trial case data on human trafficking: a comprehensive examination across two dimensions in China

The search was conducted in accordance with the second part of the aforementioned ‘Data Collection and Research Methodology’. The number of judicial cases related to the crime of trafficking in women and children was 21,690, while the number of cases related to the crime of purchasing trafficked women and children was 1458. This section will analyze the current situation and characteristics of judicial cases involving these crimes across five dimensions: trial date, trial process and verdict, court level, geographical distribution, and type of documentation provided.

Timing analysis of judicial cases on trafficking in women and children in China: trends and patterns

The crime of trafficking in women and children and the crime of buying trafficked women and children were established in China’s Criminal Law in 1997. The earliest court cases occurred in 1991 and 2000, respectively. From 1998 to 2008, there were relatively few cases involving these crimes, with six and three cases, respectively. However, from 2008 to 2017, there was a significant increase in the number of cases. The highest number of cases for trafficking in women and children occurred in 2016 (3612 cases), and for buying trafficked women and children, it was in 2017 (240 cases). The number of cases grew rapidly between 2013 and 2014, with a 5.1 times increase for trafficking and 3.6 times increase for buying. However, since 2017, the number of cases for both crimes has decreased. Specific data are shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1: Trends in the number of cases of trafficking in women and children and buying trafficked women and children.
figure 1

This figure illustrates the changes in the number of trial cases related to the crime of trafficking in women and children and buying trafficked women and children from 2008 to 2022. It shows an overall trend of gradual increase followed by a decline.

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In order to investigate the trends of human trafficking and purchasing behaviors while controlling for other possible factors that may affect these behaviors, we collected relevant trial case data from 1998 to 2022. We merged the collected data on the number of human trafficking and purchasing cases into a panel dataset and performed baseline panel regression analysis using the panelOLS function in MATLAB software. Specifically, we used the number of human trafficking and purchasing cases as the dependent variable, and year and case type as independent variables, to analyze the dataset through regression analysis. The regression analysis results show that, after controlling for other factors that may affect these behaviors, both year and case type have a significant effect on the number of human trafficking and purchasing behaviors. The regression coefficients for human trafficking and purchasing behaviors are as follows: year - β3 = 0.136, t = 4.51, p < 0.001; case type - β2 = 0.394, t = 6.43, p < 0.001. This allowed us to obtain the trends of human trafficking and purchasing behaviors each year, including the number of human trafficking and purchasing cases. We used MATLAB software to merge these data into a panel dataset, with each row representing data from one year, including year, the number of human trafficking and purchasing cases, and case type (human trafficking or purchasing).

To analyze the impact of time and control variables on the number of trafficking in women and children and buying trafficked women and children, we combined the data into a panel dataset with 25 time points and 50 units of data. We established a linear regression model with the following equation:

Trafficking in women and children_it =β0 + β1EDL_it +β2PS_it +β3Year_t + Fixed effects_i+ε_it

Buying trafficked women and children_it’ =β0’ + β1’EDL_it + β2’PS_it + β3’Year_t + Fixed effects_i’ +ε_it’

Here, Trafficking in women and children_it and Buying trafficked women and children_it’ represent the number of cases of trafficking in women and children and of buying trafficked women and children at the t-th time point. EDL_it and PS_it represent the economic development level and population size at that time point. Year_t reflects the impact of time on the number of both crimes. Fixed effects_i and Fixed effects_i’ are “fixed effect” items added to control for individual differences among different units (such as regions and countries) during the analysis. These differences might be related to the relationship between the observed variables and the outcome variables, so it is necessary to control for them as a variable.

Based on the benchmark panel regression analysis, a significant increase in the number of cases of trafficking in women and children and buying trafficked women and children during the study period was found. The regression coefficients and t-statistics were reported for both variables, with a significant p-value of less than 0.05. The growth rate of trafficking in women and children was faster than that of buying trafficked women and children. A heteroskedasticity test was conducted to verify the robustness of the results and showed that the regression coefficients remained significant.

A mediation analysis was conducted to explore whether purchasing behavior had a mediating effect on human trafficking behavior. Specifically, we used the ‘PROCESS’ macro to validate the mediating effect. The mediator variable was the number of purchasing behaviors, and the dependent variable was the number of human trafficking behaviors. The mediation analysis results show that after controlling for other factors that may affect these behaviors (such as year and case type), purchasing behavior had a significant mediating effect on human trafficking behavior (indirect effect = 0.092, 95% CI = [0.052, 0.146]), with an effect size of 0.75 and p < 0.01.

Overall, these findings suggest that both year and case type have a significant impact on the trends of human trafficking and purchasing behaviors and that purchasing behavior may be a driving force behind the increase in human trafficking.

Geographical distribution of trafficking cases: hotspots and regional disparities in the trafficking of women and children in China

There have been cases of trafficking in women and children in all 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the authority of the central government (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). Among them, trafficked women and children have been bought in 27 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the authority of the central government.

  1. (1)

    The highest incidences of cases involving the abduction and trafficking of women and children are found in Yunnan Province, Shandong Province, Henan Province, and Fujian Province, with over 1500 cases each. Yunnan Province has seen the greatest number of these cases going to trial, with 3156 such cases (15%), followed by Shandong Province, Henan Province, and Fujian Province, with 2895, 2731 and 1619 cases, respectively (accounting for 14%, 14% and 8%, respectively). Another five provinces (Sichuan, Hebei, Anhui, Guangdong, and Jiangsu) have also tried a relatively high number of cases, with 500 to 1500 cases each of abduction and trafficking of women and children. The lowest number of trafficking cases going to trial can be found in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Beijing, with fewer than 50 cases each, and the absolute lowest number is found in Ningxia, with 16 cases.

  2. (2)

    The highest incidences of cases pertaining to the purchase of trafficked women and children are found in Henan Province, Shandong Province, and Anhui Province, with the number of cases exceeding 150 in each. The highest number of cases is found in Henan Province, with 204 cases (14%), followed by Anhui Province and Shandong Province, with 186 and 182 cases (13%), respectively. Fujian Province, Hebei Province, Zhejiang Province, and Guangdong Province each tried 40 to 150 cases pertaining to the buying and selling of trafficked women and children. Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Hainan Province, Chongqing Municipality, and Beijing Municipality show relatively fewer cases pertaining to the purchase of abducted women and children, since all had fewer than 10 cases, and Hainan Province had only 1 such case. As of October 4, 2022, no data on the number of cases involving women and children being bought and sold in Heilongjiang Province, Qinghai Province or the Tibet Autonomous Region were found in the judicial Beida Fabao case database. Specific data are shown in Fig. 2.

    Fig. 2: Regional distribution of crime-related cases.
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    This figure presents a comparative analysis of trial cases related to the crime of trafficking in women and children and buying trafficked women and children in the 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across the country.

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To understand the overall trend of crimes related to the trafficking of women and children in China, we collected data from different provinces and analyzed them using non-parametric regression analysis. Two linear regression models were established with trafficking women and children and buying abducted women and children as the dependent variables, and different provinces as the independent variables.

The trafficking of women and children model can be represented as:

$$\begin{array}{l}T = \beta\, 0 + \beta \,1 \times Province1 + \beta \,2 \times Province2 + \ldots + \\ \beta\, n \times Province\,{{{\mathrm{ }}}}n + \varepsilon \end{array}$$

Here, T represents the number of crimes of trafficking women and children that occurred in a particular province, Province1 to Province n represents different provinces, β 0 to β n are the regression coefficients, and ε is the random error term.

The buying abducted women and children model can be represented as:

$$\begin{array}{l}P = \beta\, 0 + \beta\, 1 \times Province1 + \beta\, 2 \times Province2 + \ldots + \\ \beta\, n \times Province\,n + \varepsilon \end{array}$$

Here, P represents the number of crimes of buying abducted women and children that occurred in a particular province, Province1 to Province n represents different provinces, β0 to βn are the regression coefficients, and ε is the random error term.

After establishing the models, we used the regress function in MATLAB to perform regression analysis. The results include two scatter plots and regression lines, as shown in the Fig. 3(a, b) below.

Fig. 3: Provincial Analysis of Trafficking and Purchasing Cases of Women and Children: Scatter Plots and Regression Lines.
figure 3

a Scatter plots and regression lines for cases involving the trafficking and purchasing of trafficked women and children in each province. b Scatter plots and regression lines for cases involving the trafficking and purchasing of trafficked women and children in each province. These two figures depict the distribution of scatter plots and regression lines for trial cases related to the crime of trafficking in women and children and buying trafficked women and children in each of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities nationwide.

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From the figure, it can be seen that the regression lines of both models are close to the scatter plot distribution, indicating good fitting effects of the models. In addition, we calculated the regression coefficients and significance levels of the models to assess the impact of the independent variables on the dependent variable and the statistical significance. We used the regstats function in MATLAB to calculate the regression coefficients and significance levels.

The results show that the regression coefficient of trafficking women and children is 1.29, indicating significant differences between different provinces, and the significance level is very low (p-value = 0.0006), indicating that the model has strong explanatory power. The regression coefficient of buying abducted women and children is 0.09, indicating some differences but with a relatively high significance level (p-value = 0.0995), indicating that the model has weak explanatory power. This suggests that the existing database has limited coverage of buying-related crimes.

We can conclude that there are significant differences in crimes of trafficking women and children between different provinces, while the differences in crimes of buying abducted women and children are not significant. There may be some special situations in certain provinces that lead to a higher number of crimes of trafficking women and children.

We conducted a non-parametric test on the dataset using the rank sum function and found that the p-value was less than the significance level of 0.05, leading us to reject the null hypothesis (h = 1) and conclude that the two samples (x and y) come from different distributions, indicating significant differences in crime numbers between different regions. Based on this conclusion, we further assessed whether there were significant differences in crime numbers between different regions. Using the criterion that a p-value less than 0.05 indicates statistical significance, we concluded that there were significant differences in crime numbers between different regions.

In summary, based on the sample data, we can conclude that there are significant differences in crime numbers between different regions.

Analysis of the causes of the national trend in trafficking crimes

Through the aforementioned analysis, it can be observed that significant progress has been made in legislative adjustments and specific judicial responses. The number of related criminal cases has been continuously decreasing. However, at the same time, certain provinces still experience a high incidence of such crimes. The national trend in trafficking crimes is deeply rooted in social factors. In addition to changes in governance approaches, there are important explicit influences at the national level. The overall economic development of the country, the narrowing wealth gap between individuals and between urban and rural areas, and strict policies for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic all play an immeasurable role. The provinces with high incidence rates of such crimes also have their own unique historical context.

Analysis of the causes of the overall national crime trend

The legislative year effect: incentives for the relief of judicial policies in combating trafficking crimes and their impacts

The “legislative year effect” describes the significant correlation between legislative acts and the desired effect. This effect has been observed in the legislative process of civil litigation, labor arbitration, and matrimonial law, among other dispute resolution mechanisms. A similar phenomenon can be found in the legislative processes of civil litigation, labor arbitration, and marriage law (Lan, 2018). These phenomena are closely related. When the state promulgates a new law or policy, the number of corresponding cases in that year usually increases geometrically. In December 2007, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security formally established the “Anti-Abduction Office”, an organization dedicated to handling such crimes, and in the same year, the State Council issued its first national “antitrafficking” action plan, the China Action Plan Against Trafficking in Women and Children (2008–2012), to strengthen the fight against trafficking crimes. As a result, the number of cases of such crimes began to surge from 2008 onward. In 2011 and 2015, the state, while strengthening its antitrafficking efforts, also encouraged perpetrators to surrender and gave those who did so preferential treatment in the form of lighter penalties in response to the long-standing failure to solve some of these crimes; this resulted in many perpetrators coming forward to surrender. The number of trafficking crimes and the number of cases tried peaked in 2017. After 2018, the number of offenses and concluded cases fell, as the historical backlog of cases was gradually resolved after the previous period of slow resolution. In terms of the punishment for this type of crime in China, the trend has varied from strict and severe punishment to differentiated and lighter treatment. Although the state has always been concerned about prosecuting this type of crime, it has now entered a stage of greater stability and control.

The role of economic development in curbing trafficking crimes: focus on the new countryside

It may seem unlikely that there is a direct causal correlation between the country’s economic development and trafficking crimes, particularly given the apparent decline in the number of cases since the peak in 2017. However, a deeper analysis of the root causes of local crime suggests that rapid and steady economic development and the narrowing of the gap between rich and poor have had a profound restraining effect on this type of crime. In particular, since the country’s new rural development began, the economic development of the countryside has improved significantly, employment opportunities in the countryside have increased, and behind the various waves of returnees to the countryside is a narrowing of the gaps between urban and rural areas (Wang et al., 2023). This change in the national economic situation has made it less difficult for rural women who wish to improve their livelihood by working outside their hometown to choose new types of employment or even to start a business in their hometown. The phenomenon of children being left behind in rural areas as a result of rural Chinese families moving to cities for work in earlier years has also been a serious concern for the government, and the balancing of urban and rural development has facilitated the handling of such issues, with more rural families choosing to return to their hometowns to support the growth and education of their children (Yao et al., 2023). The scope of crimes committed against migrant workers and children left behind as victims of trafficking is naturally continually declining, resulting in a decrease in the number of such cases.

Impact of social public welfare policy adjustment on the trafficking of women and children

The purchase of trafficked women and children is largely related to the traditional concept of “inheritance” or what is passed on from one generation to the next. The concept of raising children to take care of their elders in old age has been affected by the continuous adjustment of the old age policy, and the difficulty of accessing medical services in rural areas has been gradually resolved with the reform of China’s medical system and the promotion of the new rural cooperative policy. As a result, many families have gradually moved away from the traditional concept of raising children to assist their elders in their old age and are devoting more energy to their own health and care, as exemplified by the explosion of the elder care market.

The impact of strict COVID-19 prevention policies on interpersonal mobility and trafficking crimes

Since 2019, the number of human trafficking trials in China has fallen drastically, and this phenomenon is closely linked to China’s adoption of the most stringent policies in the world to limit and control the COVID-19 pandemic. Trafficking offenses are usually committed in a cross-regional manner, but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant social problems in the effort to control the number of COVID-19 infections to avoid the depletion of medical resources. China has adopted the strictest policies to prevent and control the pandemic, including restricting the regional movement of residents by limiting their interpersonal movements and enforcing quarantines. This has deprived traffickers of the convenience of operating across urban areas, thus largely limiting the occurrence of such crimes.

Unraveling the causes of high crime rates in provinces with elevated instances: a case study of Yunnan, Henan, Shandong, and Fujian

The high incidence rates of such crimes are in fact closely related to the local situation, as the four provinces of Yunnan, Henan, Shandong and Fujian, which are the areas with the highest incidence of human trafficking crimes in China, have both common facilitating factors and differentiated local factors.

Common facilitating factors contributing to high incidence of human trafficking in Yunnan, Henan, Shandong, and Fujian provinces

There are both common and unique causes of the high incidence of human trafficking in Yunnan, Henan, Shandong, and Fujian provinces. The common factors can be summarized as follows: local inequality due to uneven economic development and many individuals engaging in prostitution or entering marriages in order to obtain a new life and leave behind their poverty-stricken existence. The imbalance in the ratio between men and women in the population leads to the creation of a buyer’s market (Wang, 2007). The imbalance between rural men and women and the marriage squeeze have led to a growth in the population of older unmarried males, with negative consequences for themselves, their families, and their communities as well as potential risks to public safety and the sparking of social conflict (Jin et al., 2010). The influence of patriarchal values and traditional cultural attitudes toward inheritance is also notable. Together, these factors create a “differential gradient” (Li et al., 2017) that results in a high rate of trafficking.

Factors contributing to high incidence of human trafficking in Yunnan province: geographical variation and economic underdevelopment

For Yunnan Province, the main reasons for its high incidence rates include local variation in geographical and natural factors, as the southwestern provinces, including Yunnan Province, share borders with Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos, and different countries have different basic national conditions, demographic structures, and social customs. These geographical features facilitate the occurrence of human trafficking crimes. The underlying causes include economic backwardness and poverty (Xu et al., 2022). Local differences in the level of socioeconomic development have created a social phenomenon of foreign women seeking Chinese sons-in-law, which has given rise to the crime of trafficking in women under the guise of the “group purchasing of Vietnamese brides” (Zeng, 2016). Without decisive legal action by the Chinese government, this form of human trafficking will continue unabated (Hung, 2021). Some statistics show that the foreign female victims of trafficking in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces are mainly of Vietnamese origin, with Yunnan being the main province where Vietnamese women are trafficked, accounting for nearly 75% of all female Vietnamese trafficking victims in China (He, 2018). The exodus from poorer regions is mostly caused by a sense of helplessness, with migrants seeking an escape from the hardships of survival and the difficulties of development. In China, the southwestern region has actually had the most cases of this type of crime, forming a crime circle along the southwestern border with Yunnan Province at its core (Xu et al., 2022).

Factors influencing high incidence of human trafficking in Shandong province: patriarchal ideology and cultural factors

The reasons for Shandong Province’s high incidence of trafficking are different from those of Yunnan Province: The hierarchical order of male superiority and female inferiority is one of the important aspects of Confucian ethics and morality. Shandong, as the birthplace of Confucian thought, is characterized by a serious patriarchal ideology (Liu and Zhang, 2015; Renlong and Jianfeng, 2020). The belief in male superiority and regional cultural differences can have dangerous consequences, as they often lead to a lack of recognition and respect for women’s rights and status in society. This can result in the perception that women are the property of men and can be bought and sold. In some cases, selling women to men may even be considered a minor offense or legal act, which contributes to the proliferation of trafficking crimes. In Shandong, there are more cases of marriage and adoption-related trafficking and deception (Wang, 2014a, b; Wang, 2005). The existence of this situation is closely related to factors such as gender hierarchy and gender worship, regional hierarchy and regional worship, and identity hierarchy and identity worship. Among them, gender hierarchy and gender worship reinforce the idea of male superiority and female inferiority. Although this difference is gradually diminishing with the continuous development of society, there has not been a fundamental change; gender positioning and sorting based on gender value judgments are still widely reflected in the nature and characteristics of physical society. Human trafficking is driven by both subjective and objective factors, including traffickers’ profit-focused mentality and insufficient external controls. Financial gain is the primary motivation for offenders, as the potential for massive profits and low investment costs incentivize them to commit heinous crimes (Gao, 2010). In addition, women with intellectual disabilities in Shandong are targeted by traffickers who take advantage of their gender and marriage opportunities in a male-dominated rural marriage market. However, these women face compromised marital autonomy and are often subjected to “relay” and “retreat” trafficking. Initially, buyers purchase these women for their own use, but due to poor living arrangements, they are forced to resell them to “backhand” buyers. This cycle of resale continues due to the mental deficiencies and disabilities of these women, making them vulnerable to repeated exploitation (Pan, 2010).

The drivers of the high incidence of trafficking in Henan province: cultural norms and complex trafficking networks

The main reasons for Henan Province’s high incidence of trafficking include the province having its own patterned trafficking crime path and unique geographical network for trafficking crime. Henan Province is the most populous province in China, with disproportionate numbers of men and women. The province has a well-developed transportation network and a deep sense of “inheritance” in some areas of the formerly feudal society. Many people are influenced by the remnants of feudalism and see women as a tool to prove their fertility and sell them if the union does not produce children. The acts of buying and selling are seen as forming a reasonable transaction. This particular ideology has facilitated the spread of trafficking crimes, gradually forming a typical “buyer’s market” for trafficking crimes, which, coupled with the weakness of some local governments and loopholes in the management system, makes it impossible to prevent trafficking crimes (Zhang, 2020; Wang, 1992). This type of crime is predominantly committed by gangs and is characterized by the wide scope and span of the crime, the variety of ways the crime is committed and the cruelty of the methods used. There is also the unique factor that multiple resales lead to an increase in the number of cases but no substantial change in the number of people actually trafficked.

Examining the main causes of trafficking in Fujian province: son preference and adoption practices

The main reasons for Fujian Province’s high incidence rates include its location on the southeast coast of China, its high urbanization rate, its relatively developed economy, and its high per capita income. However, in the Minnan region of Fujian, there is a strong preference for male offspring over female offspring. As a result, there were many recorded cases of infant drowning or adoption due to the birth of female babies during the Ming and Qing dynasties (Lin, 1936; Chen, 1989). The economic development has not led to the emancipation of many people’s mindsets, and the traditional preference for sons over daughters is deeply rooted in some areas, where the main purpose of procreation is to pass on the family name and the ideology of raising children to care for their elders in their old age prevails (Lin and Ge, 2010; You et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2013). Although it has undergone years of development, this concept remains deeply ingrained (Huang and Li, 2012). The preference for male heirs is arguably one of the major reasons for the high rate of child trafficking in Fujian because the stronger clan culture in these provinces favors preference for male heirs (Zhang et al., 2017; Zhen et al., 2018). Many families that face fertility issues or lack male children create a strong demand for male babies, who can be adopted at high prices. The current Adoption Law in China imposes strict regulations on adoption, resulting in poor access to legal means of adoption. Inadequate social security mechanisms and poor access to legal adoption contribute to the high incidence of buyouts (Wang, 2015). The “Guizhou-Fujian” route is one specific path for child trafficking crimes (Li et al., 2020). Additionally, the economic development of Fujian Province has become an important factor in attracting foreigners to work in Fujian. Directly hiring workers and forming networks have become the most common tactics used by traffickers. In addition, marriage migration has been an important avenue through which rural Chinese women can improve their disadvantaged situation, and it is under the guise of offering marriages that unscrupulous individuals have been able to traffic women (Tan, 1994). Researchers have analyzed the data and found that women in Fujian are mainly trafficked by being smuggled abroad, while women in Yunnan are trafficked to other provinces in China (Chu, 2011). It should also be stressed that the number of cases on trial does not correspond to the number of incidents that actually occur, as the number of cases that go to trial is only a fraction of the total; thus, this study is inevitably limited in its analysis (Yiwei et al., 2019) (see Fig. 4 for a diagram of the macro-micro impact relationship).

Fig. 4: Model diagram of the influential factors.
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This model diagram provides a clear analysis of various factors and their interrelationships that influence this type of crime.

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Important rules of adjudication in cases of the trafficking and purchasing of women and children

China’s judicial system is based on a code, and judicial decisions therefore do not have a binding effect on subsequent cases, as would be the case in a country in which the judicial system is based on case law. In China, judicial decisions are only used as references. This situation is based on intercultural influences and the fact that typical cases serve as examples. Within this system, similar cases are adjudicated in similar ways. Therefore, typical cases have played an increasingly important role in judicial practice when the cases are complex. Therefore, to clarify how most such crimes are currently handled in judicial practice in China, 111 key cases were selected through the aforementioned search, and a summary of the basic information, significance, and advice pertaining to these cases is presented below.

Rationale for case selection

TheFootnote 6 number of cases of trafficking in women and children for which information is available through the Beida Fabulous case search is 21,690. The “Reference Level” section of Beida Fabulous further clarifies the specific types of these cases, which can be divided into seven main groups: 35 typical cases, 1 reference case, 4 evaluation cases, 1 excellent case, 54 classic cases, 2237 cases recommended by Legal Treasure and 19,372 ordinary cases. In selecting the cases, three main factors are considered: the source of the case, the relevance of the case to judicial practice, and the role of the case in filling existing legal loopholes. The reason we consider the source of the typical cases covered in this article is that the cases promulgated by courts at different levels differ in their practical guidance, and typically, the higher the level of authority that issues the ruling on a typical case, the greater the role that case plays in guiding other decisions and the more likely that ruling is to be followed by lower courts. Of the 35 typical cases, 16 were judged by the Supreme Court, 3 by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and 16 by local courts and other periodical media. The Supreme Court, the Supreme Prosecutor, and the Ministry of Public Security, as the apex of the national public security judiciary, have issued rulings in typical cases that have had a strong guiding effect on grassroots departments nationwide, so all 36 cases were selected.

Typical cases (24)

Typical case rulings issued by the Supreme People’s Court

The abduction and sale of children result in families being separated, which causes both the children and their families great mental harm and suffering and leads to social panic. Therefore, when ruling on cases involving the abduction, sale, and purchase of women and children, China’s judicial organs have long adhered to a policy of severe punishment. However, due to the complexity of judicial practice, the law has been inappropriately applied in those cases. To regulate the application of the law and the effective management of these crimes, the Supreme Court has identified a series of cases it considers typical. Such cases are used to guide the rule of law, which is considered to be the rule of nature (Jianjun, 2002). These guiding cases can help refine and generate rules of adjudication, effectively compensating for loopholes or shortcomings in the existing law. This process will inevitably lead to the development and improvement of the legal system on a national level (Hu and Yu, 2008). From 2011 to the present, the Supreme Court has identified 16 typical cases, which are summarized below (Table 2).

Table 2 Supreme Court rulings on the first set of typical cases describing the trafficking of women and children.
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Typical case rulings issued by the Supreme Prosecutor (3 cases in)

Some cases have not only a great social impact and legal significance but also a normative and guidance value for other cases. Procuratorial institutions, through their compilation and release of typical cases, not only help in reviewing these cases in terms of the ways in which they were managed but also help in diffusing legal knowledge in effort to educate and warn society. Since 2010, the Supreme Prosecutor has identified a number of typical cases and guiding cases. Among them are three typical cases involving the trafficking and buying of women and children (Table 3).

Table 3 Typical case rulings issued by the Supreme Prosecutor.
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Typical case rulings issued by the Ministry of Public Safety (5 cases)

The Ministry of Public Safety identifies certain typical cases as guiding cases and as “a means of self-restraint to monitor the administration and to regulate the discretion of various actors to provide a path for legal resources to support administrative law enforcement” (Shi and Xie, 2020). Ministry of Public Safety rulings on typical cases involving antitrafficking special action at the national scale (Table 4).

Table 4 Typical case rulings issued by the Ministry of Public Safety.
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Important related cases

In addition to the aforementioned 24 typical cases issued by the public prosecution and judiciary, there are also reference cases and exemplary instances handled by local courts. These cases have garnered attention from the judicial practice departments and have been incorporated into guiding cases, serving as a reference for court judgments (Table 5).

Table 5 Case presentation.
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Judgment rules developed from typical cases

The Supreme Court, the Supreme Prosecutor, and the Ministry of Public Security are among the top public security and judicial organs in China, and it is very common for the three authorities to jointly issue documents for the purpose of crime control (for example, four of the aforementioned 15 different judicial interpretations and departmental regulations were jointly issued by the three authorities). However, there are no instances of the three authorities jointly issuing rulings on typical cases. Clearly, the fact that the three authorities issue rulings on typical cases separately reflects their respective nonfunctional positions in dealing with such crimes.

An analysis of the 17 typical case rulings issued by the Supreme Court reveals that the relevant cases mainly revolve around the common adjudicative challenges of abduction and trafficking crimes in practice, with a focus on the three special subjects of parental abduction and sale, defective abductees and minors. These three special subjects form the most difficult types of trafficking crimes to solve due to the identity of the subjects. Parental abduction and selling crimes are extremely concealed, and these cases are difficult to detect. A more serious problem is the large number of such crimes, with some researchers finding the number to be as high as 72.4% of all child trafficking crimes (Wang, 2015). The circumstances of such cases are different from those of conventional trafficking crimes, as they usually involve a parent or parents giving away their biological child to another person in exchange for a high price purportedly for nutrition or childcare or someone selling a baby whose biological parents were tricked under the pretext of adoption or facilitating the trafficking of a child through theft or brokering. The Supreme Court has clarified the rules for the adjudication of such crimes in the form of guiding cases and has embodied the logic of severe punishment for such profit-making abduction and trafficking crimes.

As the country’s legal supervisory authority, the procuratorate plays an important supervisory role in the judicial process. Although the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office is less likely to issue rulings that become typical cases, the three typical cases the office has ruled on reflect, in particular, the efforts made by the procuratorial authorities to hold foreign nationals criminally responsible for committing such crimes and for endangering minors. In fact, this stems from the expansion of the procuratorial authorities’ function of legal self-supervision. This expansion of the legal oversight function is closely linked to a major reform of the country’s state institutions. The procuratorial authorities originally had the power to investigate corruption offenses committed by state officials, a power that had a significant impact on the procuratorial authorities but that was subsequently transferred to the State Supervisory Commission, a new political body established by the state. This separation of powers seemed to cause a loss of authority for the procuratorial authorities, who, in order to strengthen their judicial authority as a legal supervisory body, had to expand the specific scope of their legal supervision to include a number of elements, including corporate criminal compliance, leniency in pleading guilty and punishment, and the protection of minors.

Public security organs act as defenders of people’s lives and property and social order. They are the main players in the state’s fight against crime. However, the improper exercise of police powers can easily lead to the risk of human rights violations, so the Ministry of Public Security has responded by implementing many law enforcement regulations. One such regulation was connected to the rulings on the five typical cases mentioned above, which illustrate the diversity of methods used by public security authorities to address this type of crime; successfully rescue abductees through various methods, such as police and public and police media cooperation; and thus demonstrate their effectiveness in combating this type of crime, which constitutes a great deterrent to those who intend to commit abduction.

Through these data, we found that the number of related criminal cases has generally declined in recent years and that the adjustments made in the adjudication of these cases have been effective. However, the relevant legislation has often been scrutinized because of cases that have attracted much attention. Therefore, studying the legislation, judicial cases, and judicial rules pertaining to the crimes of trafficking women and children and the purchase of trafficked women and children contributes to a better understanding of current convictions and sentences regarding these cases in China. For scholars, some questions remain about these crimes. These questions relate to issues such as identifying what is a crime and what is not, clarifying the controversy that exists over the scope of protection, deciding whether the purchasing of women or children should be considered the same crime as trafficking, and deciding on the type of relevant statutory penalty.

In the typical case rulings released by the three departments of the Public Prosecution and the Law, significant differences in the motivation for the crimes of trafficking and buying are identified. Although the factor of there being no market without demand is an important trigger for this type of crime, the crime of trafficking for profit and buying for the purpose of adoption or marriage have different harmful effects. The causes are even more complex, as the impulse to buy for adoption or marriage actually stems from deep-rooted social causes and is linked to the state’s lack of response to such problems (for example, the problem of elder care, which will become an increasingly pressing social problem affecting the whole country as the working population decreases, aging increases and the low fertility rate becomes irreversible). From the perspective of traditional Chinese cultural reasons for having children, adoption is somewhat ethically justified.

In conclusion, the decreasing number of cases and the emergence of typical cases have amply demonstrated the effectiveness of the existing rules in combating this type of crime. The calls for stricter and more severe punishment, which have been so prevalent in academic circles and society, should also be viewed more rationally in terms of the effectiveness of the country’s overall governance, and there is no need to question the legislation because of the specific misfortunes of trafficked persons in individual cases. After all, the existing rules of sanctions are sufficient to penalize perpetrators with the punishment they deserve.

Discussion and conclusion

An analysis of laws, regulations, and judicial decisions related to this type of crime reveals that the increase or decrease in the number of cases is linked to various factors. From a national perspective, criminals have chosen to surrender and secure more lenient treatment, motivated by the judicial policy of mitigating punishment. This has led to the phenomenon of the legislative year effect and an increase in the number of cases. The balancing of the country’s overall economic development, especially the introduction of the strategy to revitalize the rural economy, has led to a new form of rural construction, and the integration of urban and rural areas has reduced the original conditions that pushed individuals to engage in abduction as a means of livelihood. The adjustment of social welfare policies has led to a gradual improvement in issues such as pensions and medical care, which has slowly transformed the previous ideology of “raising children to care for their elders in their old age”, and the reduction in adoption has naturally curbed the expansion of such crimes. Additionally, the impact of COVID-19 prevention and control policies has restricted individual mobility, which has impeded the crime of trafficking, which is often committed across regions.

From a local perspective, there are both common causes and local differences in the triggering of such crimes. The analysis shows that the four provinces of Yunnan, Henan, Shandong, and Fujian have common causes for the high incidence of such crimes. In addition to these common causes, there are also specific causes in each province. Yunnan Province has local variations in geographical and natural factors. Shandong Province has the lingering influence of the Confucian cultural concept of the inferiority of women. Henan Province has a well-developed transport network and the deep-rooted concept of “inheritance” in some areas of the formerly feudal society. Fujian Province has a high incidence of this type of crime due to its more developed economy and the influence of concerns about elder care.

Through the above analysis, it can be found that the viewpoint of equating the sale and purchase of trafficked women and children and increasing the punishment for buying such individuals is not in line with the judicial reality. The causes of buying trafficked women and children are complex, and their management and prevention cannot be effectively addressed by simply increasing penalties through criminal legislation and imposing the same penalty for both sale and purchase. While criminal law can play an important role in addressing these crimes, it must not rely solely on penalties, let alone heavy penalties, to achieve its aims. There is a significant difference between the act of trafficking and the act of buying in terms of the mode of behavior and the degree of harm to legal interests. Trafficking is a compound act that actually violates multiple legal interests. It treats people as commodities for the purpose of profit, seriously infringing upon multiple aspects of human dignity and personality. Moreover, the statutory penalties for these two behaviors are different because they have different legislative logics. The legislative logic for the act of buying is to impose multiple charges and punishments for other criminal acts committed during the commission of buying. The causes of the crime of buying are more complex, and those of crimes involving adoption or marriage stem from deep-rooted social causes that are linked to the state’s inadequate response to such problems. However, for other associated criminal acts committed during the process of trafficking, the legislative logic is to evaluate them as aggravating circumstances and impose heavier punishments. Both legislative logics can fully evaluate the harmfulness of the corresponding behaviors and impose appropriate punishments. The courts should use existing legislative norms to significantly strengthen the punishment for buying women or children. Calls for amending the law are based on the social danger that this behavior creates and the prevalence of the crime. However, it is not necessary to amend the law, as the decreasing number of cases overall and the introduction of typical cases fully demonstrate the effectiveness of the existing rules in combating this type of crime.

In conclusion, this research shows that the existing rules for penalization are sufficient to deliver the perpetrators the punishment they deserve. However, it must be acknowledged that the crime of human trafficking itself is affected by various factors, such as social conflicts and changes over time. This is a multidisciplinary issue, and more research is needed to gain deeper insights into the governance regarding such issues.