ABSTRACT
In 1991, the Chinese People's Congress Standing Committee enacted and promulgated the Decision Strictly Forbidding the Selling and Buying of Sex, a legal response to the proliferation of prostitution in China. Prostitution laws vary significantly from one country to another but generally fall into three categories: prohibition, regulation and abolition. Prostitution laws in China fall into one of two groups. In the first are administrative laws that prohibit prostitution, and subject prostitutes and customers to administrative penalties. In the other are the criminal laws and their amendments by which pimping, procuring, organizing and/or forcing prostitution is considered criminal, and is subject to severe criminal penalties. In addition to the adoption of laws and regulations containing and preventing prostitution and human trafficking, the authorities have launched periodic intensified campaigns against prostitution and human trafficking. The 1991 Decision stipulated stiff punishment for hotels, restaurants and entertainment facilities permitting the occurrence of prostitution.
