China charges 17 members of Myanmar-based human trafficking ring targeting Chinese citizens

SHANGHAI: Seventeen members of a Myanmar-based human trafficking syndicate accused of luring Chinese citizens overseas and selling them to scam compounds have been charged in a Shanghai court, prosecutors said on Wednesday (Aug 19).

Chinese actor Wang Xing, whose disappearance near the Thailand-Myanmar border made headlines last year, was among the victims, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

The 17 suspects face charges including trafficking women, illegal detention, robbery and kidnapping, the Second Branch of the Shanghai People’s Procuratorate said on Wednesday in a notice posted on its official WeChat account. The notice did not state their nationalities.

The cross-border ring was based in the Myawaddy region and lured Chinese citizens abroad under the pretext of overseas employment. The victims were then forcibly taken to Myawaddy with the help of armed personnel, prosecutors said.

Many victims were robbed, assaulted and illegally detained, while some female victims were raped and forced into prostitution, prosecutors said.

"The victims were later sold to telecom fraud centres in Myanmar to engage in fraudulent activities.”

Under Chinese law, trafficking women, kidnapping and aggravated robbery can carry sentences of up to life imprisonment or, in the most serious cases, the death penalty.

WANG XING AMONG THE VICTIMS

While the notice referred to one of the victims only as a Chinese national surnamed Wang, Chinese media, including CCTV, have identified him as the actor Wang Xing.

Also known by his stage name Xing Xing, the 31-year-old actor has appeared in several Chinese TV dramas and held supporting roles in movies like Ip Man 3.

Wang was reported missing near a Thai border town in January 2025 by his girlfriend. She said he had flown to Bangkok after purportedly landing a role in a Thai filming project, and was then driven to Mae Sot before contact was lost.

Her social media post appealing for information went viral on microblogging platform Weibo. Wang’s family also appealed for help from the Chinese embassy in Thailand.

Wang was eventually found within days in Myanmar, near the border with Thailand, in an area where online scam networks operate. He was brought back to Thailand before returning to China. Thai police said he was a victim of human trafficking.

Thai police said the following month that they had arrested 10 Chinese suspects in connection with the case. They were subsequently repatriated to China.

It’s unclear whether any of the 10 are among the 17 suspects now facing charges in Shanghai.

China has led an international pressure campaign to crack down on the scam hubs operating in Southeast Asia, irked at its citizens being lured to work in the industry and targeting other Chinese with their cons.

Despite the crackdown, China’s top court cautioned in February that telecom and online fraud crimes remain at a “persistently high” level and have become increasingly organised and cross-border in nature.

“The overall criminal situation remains severe and complicated, with crimes increasingly becoming a global public nuisance and a challenge to global public security governance,” it said.