Illegal immigration to China is the process ofmigrating into China in violation of Chinese immigration laws. TheChinese government has instituted policies against illegal immigration, particularly fromNorth Korean refugees and defectors, workers and refugees fromVietnam,the Philippines,Myanmar,Laos andAfricans in Guangzhou.
TheChinese government actively discourages this type of behavior out of fears that it may cause instability in the region and encourage more illegal immigration.[1]
In 2003, campaigns against illegal immigration were conducted in Guangdong and other Chinese provinces, and around 2008, the police repeatedly conducted so-called "hurricane" campaigns against illegal immigration in Guangdong.[2]: 155–160
Since 2004 at the latest, illegal immigration has increasingly come into the focus of the police authorities inGuangzhou, primarily targeted against immigrants fromAfrican countries, and later throughout the country. In Guangzhou, a regulation has been in force since 2004 under which citizens are requested to report cases suspected of illegal immigration to the police, which can be rewarded with CN¥100 for information that leads to successful expulsions.[2]: 73–74 [3]
According toReuters in 2009, there were as many as 100,000 Africans and Arabs in Guangzhou, mostly illegal overstayers.[4]
In 2012, the legal framework on the exit-entry administration was amended and the new regulations featured extended power of the local police in immigration issues, higher sanctions against illegal stay and illegal employment as well as revised rules regarding deportation.[2]: 80–88
In May 20, 2025,rumors went viral on Chinese social media of over 3000 police officers conducting a raid onSanyuanli Subdistrict, which has a huge African community.[5] On May 27, 2025, the Sanyuanli Subdistrict government dismissed these claims as "false and baseless rumors".[6][7]
Illegal immigrants from North Korea have moved across theChina–North Korea border to seek higher wages and escape repression.[8]
The Chinese government transferred responsibility for managing the border to the army from the police in 2003.[9] Chinese authorities began building wire fences "on major defection routes along the Tumen River" in 2003.[10] Beginning in September 2006,[10] China erected a 20 kilometres (12 mi) fence on the border nearDandong to prevent defectors and refugees from crossing the border into China.[11][12]
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Significant numbers of Vietnamese, Cambodian and Burmese workers have been smuggled into China illegally to work low-skilled jobs for wages undercutting those of domestic workers and to fill vacancies left by Chinese migrant workers.[14][15] Thousands of Vietnamese from the poorernorthern provinces move to China to work illegally each year.[13]