The past two decades in China have been a time of great social transformation, a blending of the
new and the old and an ongoing challenge and defense of modern and traditional ways. Like
dying embers, some old issues are glowing again, rekindled under a climate that is both
confrontational and harmonious. For example, the phenomenon of trafficking in women for
marriage--a problem long kept silent--had slowed to a stop for about 30 years. But in the 1980s,
the phenomenon revived and rapidly spread to almost all provinces in mainland China, especially
the provinces of Sichuan, Hunan, Guizhou, Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Anhui and Neimengu.

The traffic in women for marriage has grievously harmed the rights and interests of Chinese
women. It has damaged the physical and mental health of its victims and their kinfolk and
become an issue of public health, particularly in regions of heavy trafficking. However, almost
no policy attention has been given to addressing this problem as a public health issue, and only a
few researchers have been willing to look deeply at it. Most researchers, including those in the
academic field, are concerned with what they believe to be other, more important social issues.
Because of this focus on other issues and, more to the point perhaps, because women in China
have not gained the social status they deserve, it is difficult to obtain accurate representative
figures on the true extent of the trafficking problem.
In this paper, I will first provide a context to the phenomenon of trafficking in women in China by
outlining the impact of the country’s social and economic transformations on the status of Chinese
women over the last 50 years. I will then analyze the problems and the causes of trafficking in
women for marriage with the hope of drawing attention within certain circles in China to this
important women’s health issue. In order to eradicate trafficking, it is important that we establish
a sound, common strategy. In the final section of the paper, I will propose some countermeasures
to the trade of women in China.
Research for this paper draws upon documents made public by various levels and departments of
the Chinese government, the Statistics Bureau of China, public information sources as well as
information obtained in interviews I have conducted.