China

In the People's Republic of China (PRC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) began its operations in 2007, when the IOM Liaison Office in China officially opened in Beijing. After having held observer status since 2001, on 30 June 2016, China officially became IOM’s 165th member state, opening a new chapter of cooperation. In the same year, IOM Beijing officially became Country Office assuming oversight functions over its Sub-Office in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the PRC, where IOM has been operational since 1952, as well as for its Country Office in Mongolia, overseen by the IOM Chief of Mission for China and Mongolia based in Beijing.

In the past decades, China has increasingly become a source and a destination country for migrants from all over the world: in 2017, there were 10 million Chinese migrants living and working overseas, and approximately a million international migrants registered in China. These growing migration flows bring with them cases of irregular migration from and into China. To respond to an increasingly mobile population, China has taken steps to engage in international migration governance by strengthening regional and international cooperation on migration issues. In December 2018, China supported the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM).

With China becoming a prominent actor in global migration debates, IOM’s work in the country touches nearly every aspect of migration from facilitating human mobility to preventing and combating irregular migration and human trafficking. Main areas of work include:

• Immigration and Border Management: IOM supports the Chinese government to enhance immigration and border management-related structures, policy and operational systems in order to respond more effectively to border challenges and to institute good migration governance. Under the EU-funded “EU-China Dialogue on Migration and Mobility Support Project Phase III” (MMSP III), which builds on the achievements of the previous two phases of the action conducted between 2015 and 2023, IOM is improving knowledge and cooperation on immigration and border management to contribute to better management of regular migration and mobility between the EU and China, and organizing trainings and workshops to enhance the capacity of Chinese and EU Member States’ officials to better detect, prevent and combat irregular migration, including smuggling of migrants and human trafficking.
• Migrant Protection and Assistance: In China, IOM has undertaken various counter-trafficking activities to assist the implementation of China’s Second National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking for the period 2013-2020. In particular, IOM supports the Government of China’s efforts to prevent and respond to human trafficking including provision of assistance to trafficked persons, both in China mainland and in Hong Kong and Macau SARs, China. IOM has also provided support for assisted voluntary return and reintegration of vulnerable migrants from and to China.
• Labour Migration and Human Development: Recognizing the potential of the private sector as a driver of change, IOM has increasingly engaged with private enterprises that employ migrant workers to promote ethical recruitment and decent work practices. In line with IOM’s Private Sector Partnership Strategy 2016-2020, CREST Operational Framework and IRIS principles, IOM through its Sub-Office in Hong Kong SAR of the PRC implements a number of programmes aimed at promoting ethical recruitment and decent work among private sector partners by strengthening their policies to protect the foreign domestic workforce. In mainland China, IOM facilitates dialogue around labour migration policies and programmes, amongst other aspects of migration and mobility between China and the EU, as well as undertakes activities to facilitate pre-departure orientation for prospective migrants and other relevant stakeholders.
• Migration and Development: IOM promotes the mainstreaming of migration into policy development by supporting China’s engagement in regional and international processes and frameworks to maximize the development impact of migration and mobility through mechanisms that address migration as a global phenomenon.
• Data and Research: In collaboration with Chinese think tanks, academia and other partners, IOM undertakes research and provides evidence-based tools to its counterparts to address knowledge and policy requirements on a variety of migration-related topics.
• Resettlement and Movement Management: In Hong Kong SAR of the PRC, IOM provides transit assistance to passengers traveling under IOM auspices, and makes travel arrangements for persons who require international migration and return assistance as well as provides support to individual migrants when requested.

EU-China Dialogue on Migration and Mobility Support Project, Phase III

Brochure

• Main Project Brochure

Newsletter & Summary of Activities

• Workshop on Practical Cooperation on Returns and Readmissions, 17 October 2024, Beijing
• Briefing on the Latest Visa and Immigration Administration Policies and Developments in China, 19 June 2024, Beijing
• Training for EU Embassies and Consulates on the Identification of Victims of Human Trafficking, 14-15 May 2024, Beijing
• Official launch of the 3rd Phase of the “EU-China Dialogue on Migration and Mobility Support Project”, 29 February 2024, Beijing
• Issue 12, June 2024
• Issue 11, June 2023
• Issue 10, April 2022
• Issue 9, June 2021
• Issue 8, March 2020
• Seminar on border management systems (BMS) to combat illegal movements at ports of entry (POEs), 27 June 2023, Beijing
• Seminar on Migrant Integration, 9-10 May 2023, Hangzhou
• Seminar on cross-country cooperation to fight transnational organized crime: Experiences of investigation, prosecution and conviction of trafficking in human beings’ cases, 12-13 April 2023, Beijing
• Field Visit for EU Member States Representative, 20-23 February 2023, Haikou and Sanya of Hainan province
• Webinar on EU and Chinese return management,16 December 2021,Beijing
• Seminar on innovative techniques to combat identity fraud, 19 November 2021,Beijing
• Training for EU Embassies and Consulates on identification of victims of human trafficking, 2 July 2021, Shanghai
• Training for EU Embassies and Consulates on identification of victims of human trafficking, 11 May 2021, Beijing
• Seminar on cross-country cooperation to fight transnational organized crime: Experiences of investigation, prosecution and conviction of trafficking in human beings’ cases, 10-11 December 2020, Beijing; Technical meeting on immigration systems: Policies and regulations, 26-27 November 2020, Beijing; Field visit for EU Member States Representatives, Nanjing and Suzhou, Jiangsu province, 28-30 October 2020, Nanjing and Suzhou of Jiangsu province

Research Reports

• R1 Attracting Skilled International Migrants to China: A Review and Comparison of Policies and Practices, 2017 | ZH
• R2 Labour Migration from China to Europe: Scope and Potential, 2017 | ZH
• R3 Recruitment Costs for Chinese Workers in EU Member States. Case Study: Chinese Chefs in Germany, 2018 | ZH
• R4 Migrants and Cities: Research Report on Recruitment, Employment, and Working Conditions of Domestic Workers in China, 2017 | ZH
• R5 World Migration Report 2018 | ZH
• Understanding and Attitudes of Employers of Migrant Domestic Workers towards Ethical Recruitment and Decent Work Principles in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China  | ZH

 Career Opportunities

Being a member of the IOM team requires the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity. As an international organization with a global mandate, IOM also aims to maintain an equitable geographical balance among its staff. As such, its recruitment efforts target, but are not necessarily limited to, nationals of its Member States. IOM is an equal-opportunity employer and seeks committed professionals with a wide variety of skills in the field of migration. IOM staff work in multi-cultural environments, in which diversity and cultural sensitivity are valued.

Title	Grade	Closing Date
Operations Assistant (Field Support)	G-4	29 March 2024

View Current Vacancies

Contact Information

International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Liaison Office
No. 9-1-82，Tayuan Diplomatic Compound
Chaoyang District, Beijing China, 100600

Tel:    +86.10 85 32 18 34, +86.59 79 96 95 ext. 201
Fax:    +86.10 85 32 36 87
Email:    liaisonofficechina@iom.int

 

IOM Hongkong
Rm. 904,
Yaumatei Car Park Bldg.,
250 Shanghai St.,
Kowloon,
Hong Kong

Tel:    +852.23 32 24 41/6
Fax:    +852.23 88 12 04
Email:    hkgen@iom.int

 

The IOM Liaison Office in China, IOM Hong Kong SAR, and IOM Macao SAR each report separately to the IOM Regional Office for Asia & the Pacific in Bangkok:

18th Floor Rajanakarn Building
183 South Sathorn Road
Bangkok 10120
Thailand

Tel:    +66.2 343 93 00
Fax:    +66.2 343 93 99, +66.2 286 18 18
Email:    ROBangkok@iom.int