When police arrived to repatriate her Thursday, 20-year-old A hua (an alias), from Vietnam, was reluctant to leave.
She and 14 other Vietnamese are all illegal immigrants who were working at a mold factory in Tanzhou County, Zhongshan, the Yangcheng Evening News reported Saturday (June 3).
A hua is one of an increasing number of illegal aliens from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations who are crossing into southern China each year to seek better-paid jobs. Guangdong is one of the most popular destinations.
A hua paid 500 RMB (73.31 USD) to illegally enter Guangdong at the beginning of this year and was employed as a quality inspector at the mold factory, the Guangzhou-based newspaper said.
The monthly pay of 1,400 RMB plus free accommodation appealed to A hua and her fellow countrymen, who found it extremely hard to land a job in their home country.
A hua told the newspaper that most workers in Vietnam earned around 400 RMB a month.
Much like illegal immigrants in the United States, Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian workers are ending up in sugarcane fields, garment workshops and construction sites in Guangdong.
The jobs pay less than 35 RMB a day, but that's three times the average wage in Vietnam and perhaps half as much as a Chinese worker could demand, including benefits and overtime, the Forbes magazine reported Thursday.
Vietnamese are considered hard working and obedient, so many factories prefer to hire them, turning a blind eye to their illegal status, the Yangcheng Evening News quoted Gao Qiang, manager of the mold factory A hua worked for, as saying.
Gao said at least two factories in the Dongdou Industrial Zone, where his factory is located, have hired illegal Vietnamese immigrants.
Guangdong police detained 154 illegal Vietnamese immigrants in the first quarter of this year, the newspaper said.
A combination of rising pay and a lack of low-end workers has heightened demand for low-cost foreign labor, the newspaper said.
"Most illegal Vietnamese workers in Guangdong are illegal immigrants and others are those who remained in Guangdong after their visa expired," said Qiu Mei, a police officer at Zhongshan Public Security Bureau.
After getting familiar with China, they often encourage their friends and relatives to work in China, Qiu said.
According to Chinese law, anyone who illegally hires foreigners will be subject to a maximum fine of 50,000 RMB.
The fine is a comparatively small sum and fails to prevent illegal immigrants from working in China, Qiu said.
(By Martin Li)
