Just doing their jobs
A CRACKDOWN on prostitution in a leading hub of China’s thriving sex trade may provide a peek into just how big the industry is nationwide. Police in the southern city of Dongguan reacted to a nationally televised exposé about local prostitution with raids (pictured at right) on February 9th against 2,000 entertainment venues and the arrests of more than 60 people. 
Located in Guangdong province, Dongguan has long been nicknamed “Sex City”, and the report on China Central Television (CCTV) appeared not to surprise many people. Rather, the segment and subsequent police action have drawn heavy criticism online, with thousands of people on social media expressing sympathy for the prostitutes and their clients, while mocking government officials.
“It’s not only Guangdong. In all parts of the country, there are red-light districts everywhere, even in small barely developed mountain villages. Officials turn a blind eye, and police go for free,” reads a comment (in Chinese) on Sina.com from a user from Guizhou. 
Many comments snidely upbraided CCTV for deploying its resources this way. “If you have guts, go do a secret investigation on forced demolitions...” reads another (also in Chinese). “To come here and bully disadvantaged social groups is just senseless and shameless!”
Dongguan, a gritty and sprawling manufacturing base in the Pearl River Delta, has become almost as well-known for its sex trade as for its vast complement of factories and its millions of migrant workers. The sex work industry has infiltrated the entire city, from hotels and bathhouses to hair salons and restaurants. Chinese media estimate it employs 300,000 people in Dongguan, a city of 7m-8m. Other estimates say it generates as much as 50 billion yuan ($8.25 billion) annually, or roughly 10% of the local GDP
The impact could become clearer next month. Guan Qinyou, a senior economist with Minsheng Securities, says it is nearly impossible to quantify the size of the sex industry in China because so much of it operates in the grey economy, outside the law. The hit to local GDP figures for Dongguan next month, in the wake of the crackdown, may give a better picture, and perhaps allow more clarity on the size of the booming sex trade across China.
“The sex trade relates directly or indirectly to many sectors including hotels, condoms, restaurants, cosmetics, daily goods travel and other things,” Guan writes in a note to investors.
Analysing March GDP numbers could provide insight into the economic impact of prostitution in Dongguan, and by extension the rest of China. Minsheng’s economists have estimated the national sex trade is worth 1 trillion yuan annually.
The sweep, along with recent news of an AIDS scare among sex workers in Dongguan, has led to renewed calls to legalise prostitution in China. Given China’s conservative bent and the widespread reluctance to address problems in the industry for its millions of sex workers, such a change is highly unlikely.