ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the emergence of a sex industry in post-1978 China and the evolution of public discussions about it. The first section outlines the proclaimed absence of a prostitution industry in China during the Maoist period, and highlights its rapid expansion throughout different sectors of Chinese society following the introduction of market-based economic reforms in 1979. The second section examines the evolution of China’s abolitionist prostitution controls and criticisms of their enforcement. The sex industry is controversial in China, in part because of its celebrated absence during the Maoist period. Since the late 1980s, Chinese police have tried to halt the development of a commercial sex industry in the PRC by implementing periodic anti-vice campaigns against illegal activities in recreational enterprises. Questions regarding the most appropriate government response to the sex industry are now a prominent feature of public debate in the PRC, with implications for the formation of public policy.