Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - China (Ratification: 2002)

Article 6 of the Convention. Programmes of action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. Commercial sexual exploitation of children. The Committee notes the Government’s information on certain measures adopted to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children online, including: (1) the adoption of the Regulations on the Protection of Minors Online (2023) which clarify the obligations of entities such as service providers regarding the online protection of minors; (2) the Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening the Judicial Protection and Crime Prevention of Minors (Fa Fa [2024] No. 7), issued by the Supreme People’s Court, setting out new concepts, ideas and requirements for the judicial protection and crime prevention of minors in the new era; (3) the Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued guiding cases, establishing the principle of recourse that non-physical contact molestation is equivalent to offline crimes; and (4) in 2022, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) launched the “Protecting the Seedlings” action to remove online content that may be harmful to young persons, with a focus on removing harmful contents related to “soft pornography” involving minors and banning minors from appearing on live broadcasts. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken to combat the use, procuring or offering of children for the purpose of prostitution, pornography or pornographic performances, and to indicate the impact of such measures.

Article 7(1). Penalties. Forced labour. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that it maintains a “zero-tolerance” approach and that it severely punishes crimes committed against minors, including forced labour. Between 2018 to September 2022, among the adults convicted of crimes against minors prosecuted by the procuratorial authorities, the Government states that 42 per cent of these convicted adults received a prison sentence of three years or more, which is 24.3 percentage points higher than the overall rate for other criminal offenses. The Committee further notes that the Government refers to a “White Paper on the Procuratorial Work of Minors (2022)”, which is said to analyse and summarize the data related to the handling of all cases involving minors. However, the Government does not provide a copy of this White Paper. The Committee notes, from the Government’s report under the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), the information that, between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024, courts issued 15 first-instance criminal cases involving forced labour, sentencing 43 individuals. However, no specific information is provided on the cases involving forced child labour. The Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to ensure that investigations and prosecutions are carried out against persons who engage children under the age of 18 years in forced labour and that sufficiently dissuasive sanctions are imposed. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide: (i) specific information on the number of persons investigated, convicted and sentenced as well as the penal sanctions imposed in this regard; and (ii) a copy of the White Paper on Procuratorial Work of Minors (2022) and of any other updated version.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d) Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Children in street situations and children involved in begging. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that it is continuously taking measures to protect children in street situations as well as those involved in begging. In this regard, the Committee notes the information that: (1) the China National Programme on Child Development (2021–30) establishes protections for the survival, development and safety rights of orphans, children without caregivers and children without a home; (2) efforts have been made to strengthen assistance and protection of children without a home, to implement the responsibilities of street patrols and referral services for these children, and to provide them with daily care, identity verification and return transportation services; (3) local county governments are responsible for establishing stabilization mechanisms for the care of homeless children in street situations, implementing social security and compulsory education policies for them, and educating and urging parents or guardians to fulfil their caregiving duties, while also punishing illegal and criminal acts of abandoning and abusing minors; (4) the State Council has established an inter-ministerial joint conference system for the rescue and management of persons in street situation and those involved in begging, leading to noticeable improvements in the rescue and protection of children in street situations; (5) the 1,564 relief agencies in the country continue to provide care services, identity verification, return transportation and other forms of assistance and services to persons in street situations, including children; (6) for the rescued children, support is provided for compulsory education, alternative education, and if eligible, placement in welfare institutions for care; and (7) through the Five-Year Plan for Guiding Family Education (2021–25), preventive measures are envisaged to increase awareness among parents about their primary responsibilities in family education, focus on children’s emotional needs, improve parent-child communication and companionship, and create a good family atmosphere to prevent children from falling in street situations. The Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to protect children in street situations and children involved in begging. In this regard, it requests the Government to: (i) continue to provide information on the measures taken; and (ii) provide information on the results achieved, including on the number of children rescued and who have been provided with assistance.

Child domestic workers. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that, in June 2023, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, together with 6 national agencies, published the Notice on Issuing the Special Labour Protection System for Eliminating Child Labour and Underage Workers in the Workplace. This Notice provides specific guiding opinions for employers on recruitment management, advocacy and training, labour protection, and supervision and inspection, as well as reference for employers to develop and improve relevant regulations and rules or sign labour contracts with underaged workers. Its aim is to guide employers to proactively fulfil their social responsibilities and strengthen the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of workers aged 16 to 18 from the source. In addition, the Government once again indicates that no cases have been found where domestic service companies have violated the regulations prohibiting the use of child labour. In this regard, the Committee recalls that that child domestic workers constitute a high-risk group who are outside the normal reach of labour controls and are scattered and isolated in the households in which they work. Therefore, it encourages the Government to continue to monitor the implementation and supervision of laws protecting child domestic workers, in order to ensure that children engaged as domestic workers do not perform hazardous work or are not exposed to hazardous working conditions and to provide information on the measures adopted, and results achieved, in this regard.