Chinese authorities on Thursday released an anti-trafficking plan for curbing human trade in women and children for the next five years.

The plan, to be implemented from 2008 to 2012, set a general objective to minimize crimes of trading in women and children and to minimize the physical and psychological pain they suffered.

According to the plan, a ministerial-level joint meeting headed by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) would be established and local regions, especially where trafficking cases frequently occur, should set up relevant organs.

The meeting would involve 28 government ministries, including the ministries for Foreign Affairs, Education, Finance, Health and State Industry and Commerce Administration, which would make a concerted effort to halt trafficking crimes, the plan said.

The full text was posted on the central governmental website www.gov.cn. It elaborated on the main measures and organizational arrangements of the meeting.

The fund supporting the joint meeting and local anti-trafficking activities would mainly come from central and local governments and individual contributions. In addition, international aid would be actively pursued, the plan said.

At bus and train stations, airports, ferry docks and other locations where trafficking of women and children mostly occurred, the National Civil Aviation Administration, Railway and Transportation ministries would pay more intensified attention, it said.

To curb trade in women and children, the Public Security Ministry, Labor Ministry and State Industry and Commerce Administration would more severely crack down on illegal trading in the labor market and punish or clamp down on illegal labor agents.

The plan also promised that governments at all levels would improve salvation measures to women and children who suffered from kidnapping and trafficking by providing more training, physical and mental therapy and rehabilitation.

The Health Ministry and its affiliated organs are responsible for organizing certain medical institutions to provide medical care for suffering women and children, it said.

Du Hangwei, director of the investigation bureau with the MPS, said that as the first national anti-trafficking plan, it would cover all aspects of the task at hand. This included preventive education, crackdown policies, aid for victims, repatriation and rehabilitation and international and regional cooperation.

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund estimated that roughly 1 million children were bought and sold every year, mostly for sexual exploitation and forced labor.

The MPS said that it had uncovered 2,500 human trafficking-related criminal cases in 2006, saving these victims from suffering.

As part of its anti-trafficking effort, the ministry hosted a vice ministerial-level Mekong regional meeting. The meeting included representatives from Cambodia, Myanmar, China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, countries where human trafficking has become more commonplace in recent years.

(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2007)