"It's very hard to offer a specific figure," said Jiang Feng, China coordinator of the UN Inter-Agency Project (UNIAP) on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. "But from our observation, we don't see kidnapping cases dropping in China."

The domestic route of human trafficking is usually from the less developed west to the developed east, Jiang said. Boys are usually sold to families that don't have a son, and girls either become victims of sexual assault or grow up to be sold as "wives" of men who cannot pay a hefty dowry to get a bride.

Yunnan province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region report the highest number of cross-border human trafficking cases. Women are kidnapped from there and taken to Myanmar, Vietnam or Laos and sold as "wives". Women are abducted from those countries, too, and sold in Yunnan and Guangxi.

Kidnapping is closely related to the migrant population, Jiang said. The large floating population makes it easy for kidnappers to target their victims.

National Population and Family Planning Commission data show the country's migrant population was 200 million last year. It is likely to increase to 500 million in the next 30 years.

Dongguan police officer Li conceded that the huge migrant population in the city made it difficult to rescue abducted kids. "Many of the kidnappers flee to their remote hometowns or are lost in the sea of people in other towns."

Jiang suggested a long-term mechanism be set up to end the problem permanently. But "it's not a problem that can be solved by police alone Central government ministries have to join hands and more information has to be shared."

The UNIAP is pushing 29 ministerial-level agencies to set up a coordinated mechanism, and it is necessary that the Criminal Law is revised to ensure people who buy abducted kids are punished too, Jiang said.

Under the existing law, criminal charges cannot be brought against people who buy abducted kids.

Zhang Baoyan, director of website Baby Come Home that helps parents find their missing children, said buyers should get heavier punishment than kidnappers.

"They're at the root" of the problem, she said. "As long as there is a market, some people will always take the risk" of abducting kids and women.

More than 2,000 parents are seeking the help of her website to find their missing children, and about 500 children are looking for their family.

(China Daily May 7, 2009)