3,033 captured in China's prostitution crackdown

Police in south China's Guangdong Province have captured 3,033 suspects and busted 214 gangs in a crackdown on prostitution, they announced on Thursday.

The initiative was launched hours after a February media expose of the sex services offered at hotels in the city of Dongguan, which is notorious for its illegal sex trade.

Police have solved more than 1,100 prostitution-related cases after raiding nightclubs, saunas and other entertainment venues or hotels, and busting pimping gangs, said Zhen Zehui, head of the social safety administration under the provincial public security department.

Guangdong has shut down 269 venues and ordered 3,129 others to suspend operation, said Zhen.

The province has also focused on sex sold online by shutting down more than 1,200 illegal websites and over one million accounts with QQ, YY and WeChat, all popular instant messaging services in China.

The public security department said the crackdown had "effectively curbed" prostitution in Guangdong and promised to carry on the campaign till the end of this year.

Dongguan has also shown strong determination to remove its stigma as the "sex capital" of the country.

The city, which is about 80 kilometers away from the provincial capital of Guangzhou, is famous for its lavish casino resorts, bath centers and massage parlors, as well as its back-street brothels.

As of Wednesday, local police had dealt with more than 680 cases with over 1,900 suspects seized, according to the city's public security bureau.

A total of 43 civil servants, including Yan Xiaokang, former vice mayor of Dongguan and head of the city's public security bureau, have received punishments for dereliction of duty since February.

Of them, 14 have been transferred to judicial organizations for further investigation.

Li Zhuohua, deputy head of the city's public security department, gave an update on the case of Liang Yaohui, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, who is also the owner of a five-star hotel involved in the sex trade.

Liang, detained in April for organizing prostitution, is still under investigation. He was also removed from his position of NPC deputy.

Li said Dongguan has also strengthened regular inspections on entertainment venues.

Prostitution has been outlawed in China since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949. But urbanization, mass migration and the gap between rich and poor have all contributed to the country's booming sex trade. Besides, the profitable industry has lured people in.