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China has remained in Tier 3 category in the United States State Departments 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report, with the assessment citing widespread forced labour concerns, arbitrary detention of ethnic and religious minorities, and insufficient efforts to combat human trafficking.
The report said the Chinese government did not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking and was not making significant efforts to do so. It highlighted alleged forced labour in government-affiliated sectors, particularly in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, ethnic Kyrgyz and members of other minority groups continued to face arbitrary detention under the stated objectives of vocational training and deradicalisation. According to the report, authorities also continued to place ethnic Tibetans, Uyghurs and other minority groups in vocational training and manufacturing jobs through purported poverty alleviation and labour dispatch programmes that featured coercive elements. The assessment further alleged that forced labour practices extended to other Chinese provinces and that authorities sought to coerce the repatriation and internment of ethnic and religious minorities living abroad, increasing their vulnerability to exploitation. The report also accused Chinese officials of knowingly permitting North Korean citizens to be subjected to forced labour in China. It raised concerns over inadequate oversight of recruitment channels, contracts and working conditions for Chinese nationals employed on Belt and Road Initiative projects and other China-linked infrastructure projects overseas. On law enforcement, the report said China had failed to provide complete trafficking-related data for the ninth consecutive year and had not reported identifying any trafficking victims or referring them to protection services during the reporting period. Although Chinese authorities reportedly investigated and prosecuted some crimes that may have amounted to human trafficking, the report assessed overall enforcement efforts as insufficient. It also noted that cases involving indicators of forced labour were frequently handled as administrative matters rather than prosecuted under anti-trafficking laws. The report outlined gaps in Chinas legal framework, including provisions addressing the abduction and sale of women and children that do not explicitly require exploitation as an element of the offence. Tier 3 is the lowest ranking in the State Departments trafficking assessment, reserved for governments that do not fully meet minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to comply. (ANI)
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