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Prostitution in China – Part II

在中国的卖淫 - 第二章
Prostitution and Dollars

Photo by Julie Walker

Soon after Deng Xiaoping started the economic reforms, prostitution which was previously almost invisible began its exponential growth in China. And today prostitution is not just a by-product of economic boom but the fully fledged and flourishing industry having serious impact on national economics.

In his essay “Red Light District” Pan Suiming – the prominent Chinese sexologist – compares the infrastructure of prostitution in modern China with a standard business.

Although the sex industry is still illegal, it already has a formed system and operative mechanism. Production and distribution of pornography is its advertisement department. The Escort Services are its exhibition and sales department. The medical treatment of sexually transmitted diseases is its after-sale department. Clients who directly buy sex with money are its core production department. There are many affiliated industries, such as the accommodation, food and entertainment industry. If the added output value of those affiliated industries that derive income from prostitution and escort services is included, the economic scale of the Chinese sex industry expands many times.

In the late 1990s one economist tried to evaluate the share of prostitution and its affiliated industries in Chinese economics.

If we estimate that 20 million prostitutes earn 25,000 RMB annually, that comes to 500 billion RMB or is 6 percent of the PRC GDP.  Moreover, half of the prostitutes income goes to consumption. Prostitutes need quite a lot of equipment: beepers, cell phones, cabs, apartments or rooms in homes, expensive clothes and fine cosmetics, pharmaceuticals… so the sex industry may well move the economy along with an annual level of consumption of 1 trillion RMB. When we consider that the Chinese GDP in 1998 and 1999 was 7.8 trillion RMB and 8.3 trillion RMB, the contribution of the “sex industry” to the GDP comes in at about 12.1 – 12.8 percent.

According to the estimations of economist Yang Fen the massive break ups on prostitution venues in the second half of 1999 (brought by “Regulations of the Management of Places of Entertainment”) caused the Chinese GDP to drop by 1%!

The figure of 20 million sex workers seems exaggerated and possibly includes not only full-time prostitutes but also the women who get economic benefits from sexual transactions on irregular basis.

Another paper makes an attempt to quantify the ratio of prostitutes in a bottom-to-top approach.

With over one hundred brothels in Jiading Town (district in Shanghai), there is approximately one brothel per thousand inhabitants. If each brothel is populated with five girls on average, one of every two hundred citizens in Jiading Town work as a prostitute. That is one percent of the entire female population, including young and old, but many times higher in the relevant age span (around 5%). In reality, there are more than five girls per brothel, since some work part-time and on demand.

But this is just one of seven tiers. The total prostitution in Jiading Town, when accounting for bar girls, streetwalkers, dingdong ladies, and er nai, exceeds the ratio of one percent by far. Assuming that Jiading Town is representative for all of China and two percent of the females work as prostitutes the entire country may have ten million or more prostitutes at any given time in a conservative estimate.

How many of these girls work as prostitutes by choice? It’s difficult to answer this question but the series of surveys (1991, 1995 and 1997) performed by Pan Suiming give a hint about the magnitude of this problem.

The results were as follows:

  • In 1991, 23.0% of all the undergraduates in Beijing thought of finding an underground prostitute. The figure was 34.8% in 1995 and 46.8% of the undergraduates in 1997 in the whole country.
  • In 1991, 11.3% of the undergraduates in Beijing admitted giving consideration to the idea of selling sex. The figure in 1995 remained at 11.3%. In 1997, the rate increased to 15.4%.

To finish these statistics on a funny note I’d like to mention an interesting article that appeared in Beijing Evening News about two years ago in the midst of financial crisis. It found the direct link between the high house pricing and the number of sex workers in China’s capital. The author speculated that if police would crackdown on prostitution and force all of 200,000 “xiaojie” out of the city, the influx of additional flats would dramatically change the equilibrium of  supply-demand in the real estate sector.

As you can see prostitutes are useful as ballast that can be taken aboard or dropped down to keep the country’s economics afloat.

In the next part of these series I will take a closer look at the official dealing with prostitution in China.

Crystal Tao

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  • http://blog.sina.com.cn/woaibabamamabaobao1314 Elijah

    Great follow up article.

    I’ve tried to quantify the amount of prostitution going on in there, but the numbers always came back as absurd to me.

    For example, I lived in Xiamen for a number of years and even though it’s a small island city of only 2,000,000 permanent citizens, it had a huge amount of places both overt and covert selling sex. These ranged from 1 – 3 girls sharing a place with an alley-way entrance to huge places that offered the “full service” of a washed down, rub (and tug usually) followed by a happy ending that have 50 girls or more. Using a median average, let’s say that each place had 10 girls and there was around 500 places (reasonable number, trust me), then that means that there’s 5,000 prostitutes in Xiamen alone!! That accounts for 4% of the population overall.

    It just seems too fantastical (meaning based on fantasy, not being a personal fantasy). Even assuming that this density is confined to cities, then 4% of 300,000,000 people is 12,000,000 prostitutes. Then once you factor in their average earnings and it gets even crazier.

    I’d assume that they can earn about 10,000rmb each month (and that’s a conservative estimate of 100 “clients” and 100rmb “commission” with the rest going to their “managers”). That’s 1,200,000,000,000rmb being traded every month for sex. Over a year, that comes to 14,400,000,000,000rmb…… Or $2,215,384,615,384USD!!!!!! $2.2 BILLION USD…… Which is equivalent to 4.555% of the national GDP there (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html).

    That’s just the money going into their hands (hopefully…..) so after you take into account them re-spending that money and the other industries that benefit it’s enough to finance a small country.

    By the way, my estimated numbers (income and how many prostitutes)are only estimates, not fact. Also, the financial impact described here is by “only” 12,000,000 prostitutes which well below a conservative estimate.

    Food for thought eh?

    • http://www.lovelovechina.com Crystal

      5,000 out of 2,000,000 is 0.25% ;-)

    • http://chinesedatingsecrets.com/ SamReeves

      Elijah: ‘…. followed by a happy ending that have 50 girls or more…’

      A happy ending with 50 girls or more!!! I can only imagine the happiness. I think ‘bliss’ would be a better word. Sounds expensive mind you.

      Sorry, I couldn’t resist :lol:

      • http://blog.sina.com.cn/woaibabamamabaobao1314 Elijah

        Dammit!

        I don’t usually leave such obvious mistakes in my comments….

        In my defence, I was half asleep when I wrote this and focusing on numbers for a proposed deal I hope to be doing.

        :oops:

        But 50 girls does sound pretty amazing provided that you don’t have to satisfy them all in a specific time frame. I mean you as in everyone that’s not me…. I’d have no problem with that… The eye contact orgasm power of mine…. Remember? Yeah.

  • Guy

    All I can say is that the industry is getting larger and larger by the day. There is really no industry better than the sex industry. Girls who decide to sell their bodies can generally earn 10,000 or more a month. The temptation is just to great for many. I always believe that the price to pay for entering the professional isn’t with the body but with the mind. There is no turning back. It is point of no return for many. Life will be very difficult for the majority of them once their leave or is forced out of the profession by age.

    • http://www.shanghaidawei.com ziccawei

      Agreed. I imagine the psychological damage is huge. They are probably highly unlikely to have any kind of relationship afterwards.

    • http://www.lovelovechina.com Crystal

      Actually, the aforementioned Pan Suiming found that most people greatly overestimate earnings made by prostitutes (this being part of many prejudices towards these women).
      During his research he made the following “field” observations:

      In 10 different barbershops and during the 34 hours that I monitored, there were 900 person-times men that stopped and took a look at the “goods”. There were only 200 person-times that really entered. Also, there were no more than 90 person-times girls that were really taken away by the customers. That is, an average of only 9 person-times girls that were really taken away by the customers from each barbershop during these 34 hours. Each girl was only taken away 1.6 person-times average and less than 0.26 person-times each day. It means that a barbershop girl has to wait 4 days to get a customer if she merely stays at the barbershop for clients.

    • Moroes

      The damage is mild if the history does not destroy her reputation. A lot of my favorite girls at a Sauna/KTV went back to their home town and got married. Surprisingly I even got invited to some of their weddings. Which of course I didn’t go cuz that would be awkward.

      Most girls enter this industry without their parents, boyfriend and even husband knowing about it. Yeah some really do currently have a boyfriend and are secretly whoring themselves.

  • Moroes

    People underestimate what it takes to make money in the sex industry.
    In the end its a service and entertainment industry.
    Not everyone can give quality service and entertainment.

    When ever I go to a brothel I feel like Simon in American Idol. So many of them just suck at it. And yes I do give harsh critism that make them go back home crying. No one wants to be told they suck at making love. So many believe they are good at singing, i mean,… making love. AND FOR GODSAKES GO TO A DOCTOR IF YOUR THINGY SMELLS LIKE ROTTEN FISH!!!!!! Its got a yeast, fungus or some kind of infection. A lot of the times its similar to atheletes foot which they should just call it atheletes puss.

    At a KTV I’m the same thing. Entertain me or GTFO! I’m a brothel/KTV snob.

    Maybe I’m just tired of getting to much lousy service. The service ain’t cheap so yes I do expect it.

  • Serenity

    Well uh… you’re certainly open, Moroes.

    As with anything I believe in looking at things subjectively… based on context… I think a person paying another person to engage in consentual intercourse is not morally wrong.

    This doesn’t mean there are dangers in the industry. The best way to have oversight over the bad stuff and prevent abuse… government regulation. Basically, it should be legal. Taxed. Licensed.

    Prostitution is never going away. And especially in the not so utopian Chinese economy, some girls don’t have much of a choice. As long as the girls are treated with respect, paid well and cared for any damage can be contained. I don’t suggest any woman to go into prostitution, but I’m not going to berate any prostitutes or visitors of such a service unless there’s abuse involved.

    China’s unofficially ignoring a lot of prostitution. Fighting it just isn’t worth it, I guess. But rather than take the indifferent option they should just put the government on it like they do with everything else.

  • Tie Ridge

    I have known many. I have paid for at least 12 from the age of 14 to 16 to go home and go to school. No I did not have sex with them since they were under age. I wanted them to have a beter life than just selling there bodys for a few dollers. Hope more of you would do the same.

    • http://blog.sina.com.cn/woaibabamamabaobao1314 Elijah

      And then the money was taken from them by their pimps or was spent at an internet cafe….

      You always pick the young ones? Not sounding very cool dude…..

  • Tie Ridge

    Wow again ELIJAH . I help these girls unlike you take advantage of them. I am still in contact and send them money. What are you doing for any one. Making jokes and keeping your hidden affaire. The oldest profesion doesent need you help It will thrive by it self. Try exsplaining to them education is a beter way to go mabe even take time to show them in the right direction. I hear it all the time with the street walkers and the ladys of the clubs, Oh I send money home to my parents. I am only one person but have directed a few in the right direction an trying to break the chain of lazy parents just laying around and sending there daughters out to sale them self’s to pay there rent.

    • http://blog.sina.com.cn/woaibabamamabaobao1314 Elijah

      You didn’t get the point of my comment I see.

      The point I’m making is that throwing money at them isn’t going to somehow make them stop. Those under-aged girls you keep finding are kept under strict control by their pimps. Hell, half the time their families either are the pimps or they’re the ones who sold the kids to the pimp…. FOR THE MONEY.

      By sending them money, all that’s going to happen is that they’ll go back, get searched by the pimp and have the money taken from them. By continuously sending money as you claim, you’re just giving the pimps/parents a good laugh at what a chump you are.

      You really think you’re helping by giving them lectures on “The Right Path”?

      Of course, I’m sure you do a lot to help them out AND you have a Bugatti Veyron that one time you used to do this wicked jump that must have been at least 100 feet NO 100 metres long and when you land some flames came out the exhaust as you skidded to a stop…

      Yup, I’ll buy that bridge from you.

  • paul k

    hey guys do not forget that millions have internet now even in little poor villages and make tons of money in the safety of their homes on internet porn sites a web cam sites like my free cams etc.

    i will bet these girls make lots on these web sites !!!!

    much nicer than standing on a street corner !!!!

  • Antibeast

    Deng’s reforms ushered in not so much market capitalism but state gangsterism. Pan Suiming’s work merely documents the effects of such transformation but misses its root cause: corrupt officials taking their “cut” from the highly lucrative but illicit “industry”. In fact, from the looks of it, the sex “industry” in China is highly organized, as in the rest of East and Southeast Asia. That the CCP, founded by Mao, can even tolerate such an “industry” speaks of the ideological bankrupcy of Deng’s reforms and the moral purity of Mao’s ideology. What China needs is not so much more social work of the white liberal bleeding-hearty variety but the restoration of Maoist revolution against decadent bourgeiousie values.