As China increasingly finds itself suffering from "labour shortages", a new phenomenon has been quietly sweeping across the country: more and more migrant workers from Southeast Asian countries are finding ways to come to China and obtaining employment illegally. According to a survey, the economically developed Yangtze River Delta region is gradually becoming a hotbed for illegal foreign workers.

Foreigner colleagues

"I never thought that I’d be going to work together with a group of foreigners every day," said Xiao Li, an employee of a textile mill in Zhuji City. "It’s the first time I’ve heard of foreigners coming to do work in China," Li continued. The foreigners that Li is referring to are a group of migrant workers from Vietnam. "Most of them don’t understand Chinese, nor do they speak Chinese or English; we can only communicate through simple hand gestures." The group of Vietnamese, who number about 28, rarely communicate with others outside of their group. Although the mill has nearly 400 employees, these "foreigners" are living in their own "tribe", with their monthly wage of 1000 RMB.

Not Long ago, organizations in Zhuji had departments organized to rectify the "3 illegalities" (illegal immigration, illegal residence and illegal employment) and the 28 foreigners were brought under investigation. "To come to China to work you can earn about 900 RMB a month or even more; we like it here," said illegal worker Wei Wen Tong. "In Vietnam, doing the same work will only earn you about 400 RMB a month, so many people hope they can come to China for work." 

Desperate to find labour

Yang Mou, general manager of the textile mill, said he is unable to recruit enough workers domestically. "We get a lot of international orders; each time we get one, we have to ask what amount the order is for. If the order is too big, we are unable to accept it." Yang went on to say that because of labour shortages, many factories including his has to put restrictions on the amount of orders they can take, while at the same time, many of their machines are idle.

At the end of May this year, Yang Mou went to Vietnam for business. There, he found a local labour agency. "At that time, we were desperately short of manpower and attempted to hire Vietnamese to bring back as factory workers," Yang said. According to sources, when the labour agency posted the job, hundreds of people came to apply. Due to concerns about their legal status back in China, he selected 28 Vietnamese to bring back on a one month tourist visa. "In the past, we all wanted to go abroad to look for work; now many foreigners are starting to come to China instead. Economic development in China is indeed growing rapidly these years," said Yang. But not long after, the relevant departments were sent to investigate the matter. In addition to deporting all 28 of his newly hired foreign works, the mill was fined 20,000 RMB in administrative penalties.  

Low-end labour can not be imported

It is understood that workers from Vietnam or Myanmar accept pay that is half or even less than half of that received by Chinese workers. This of course, makes these foreign workers even more attractive when compared with the costs of the Chinese labour force. "Our profits have been very low recently. If the state allows, I welcome the Vietnamese workers to work here," Yang said. Many business owners have also expressed their willingness to recruit underground foreign workers. "They don’t need to pay insurance, nor do they ask for wage increases; they also don’t celebrate the same holidays like Spring Festival and Mid-autumn festival. All the Chinese go home during those times, impacting factory production."

So, with so many interested businesses, is it even possible for foreigners to come here legally to do a factory job? According to the "Employment Regulations of Foreigners in China," an "alien employment permit" and work visa are specifically required. The requirements of the job are: "someone with special needs, an internal temporary shortage of suitable candidates and someone that doesn’t violate state regulations." The provision goes on to explicitly state that "if an enterprise needs to introduce foreigners, they may only bring high-end talent, and not introduce low scale workers."

As for the illegal foreign workers, the regulations of employment for foreigners in China have clear requirements: unauthorized employment of aliens without the proper requirements shall be removed from the country, and the company will also be fined 5,000-50,000 RMB and ordered to pay for the foreign workers to be sent back to their own country.

Source: Legal Daily
 

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Keywords: illegal immigrants China illegal employment China illegal foreign workers China labour shortages China