IOM and China today signed an agreement on the establishment of a
liaison office in the Chinese capital, Beijing. The agreement,
signed by the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China in
Geneva, Sha Zukang, and IOM Director General, Brunson McKinley,
comes into effect immediately and foresees the IOM office
developing and promoting migration programmes with China.

“We are confident that the agreement signed today will add
depth to the relationship and practical programmes to the already
excellent cooperation we enjoy with the Chinese government in
dealing with migration issues,” said the IOM Director General
Brunson McKinley. “With the development of China’s
economy and its links with the outside world, we shall see
increased migratory movements in the region and new challenges for
IOM and China to address together, globally and in East
Asia.”

Ambassador Sha spoke highly of the work of IOM and hoped the IOM
Beijing office would start its work as soon as possible.

“IOM has a unique role to play in addressing migration
issues. It is also an ever more important role in today’s
world. China is willing to strengthen its relationship with IOM and
expects more fruitful cooperation with IOM in the coming
years,” he said.

IOM and China first established contacts over a decade ago and
since 2001, China has been an observer state of IOM. In recent
years IOM and China have jointly organized a number of regional
forums on issues such as irregular migration, the developmental
benefits of migration, including internal migration, and on
enhancing labour migration management capacity. In addition, IOM
and China have cooperated on research on Chinese migration and as a
donor China has supported IOM emergency humanitarian operations in
Asia.

China faces many and complex migration challenges and IOM looks
forward to being better able to assist the Chinese government and
the region in general through its presence in Beijing.

For further information, please contact:

Mr. Jian Zhao

IOM Geneva

Tel: 022 717 93 94

E-mail: "mailto:Genevajzhao@iom.int">jzhao@iom.int