A disturbing pattern is emerging behind the growing movement of Bangladeshi women to China on family-reunion visas. There is no basis for suggesting that every cross-border marriage is fraudulent or that Chinese nationals involved in such marriages are inherently linked to crime. But the extraordinary rise in China-bound women, alongside documented trafficking cases, points to a migration channel that criminal brokers appear increasingly able to exploit.

It also raises a broader question. As China's economic, commercial and strategic footprint in Bangladesh expands, are the country's regulatory and law-enforcement institutions keeping pace with the risks that accompany deeper cross-border activity?

At least 4,226 Bangladeshi women travelled to China on Q1 family visas between 2020 and 2025. The number rose from just 35 in 2022 to 1,016 in 2023, 1,378 in 2024 and 1,721 in 2025. The figures, presented at a recent workshop on human trafficking legislation, have raised concerns among law-enforcement and anti-trafficking organisations.

These figures should not be mistaken for a trafficking count. Many of the women may have travelled legitimately. The concern lies in the extraordinary growth of the route at a time when investigators and media reports have documented cases in which marriage appears to have been used as a vehicle for deception, coercion and trafficking.

The reported cases are particularly troubling because they involve women from economically vulnerable families and, in some instances, indigenous communities in the Chattogram Hill Tracts. A Chakma family in Rangamati alleged that a young woman was taken to Dhaka and forced to marry a Chinese national. A Marma woman from Khagrachhari similarly alleged that she was compelled to marry a Chinese man. In another case, a young woman from Bagerhat alleged that she was drugged, threatened with compromising material and subsequently trafficked to China, where she said she suffered abuse.

Such cases reveal how legitimate marriage and migration channels can be manipulated by criminal intermediaries. Local brokers may approach families with promises of financial security, employment or a better future abroad. Investigators have documented allegations involving false addresses, forged documents and fraudulent marriage paperwork. In reported cases, intermediaries have allegedly received or demanded payments ranging from Tk10 lakh to Tk20 lakh for arranging women's travel to China.

The problem does not end with trafficking. In March, the Department of Narcotics Control dismantled a makeshift ketamine laboratory in Uttara and arrested three Chinese nationals. Authorities recovered about 6.3kg of ketamine and alleged that the suspects were involved in an international trafficking network using sophisticated methods, including cryptocurrency transactions.

Police have also uncovered cases involving Chinese nationals in cyber fraud, online gambling and the illicit use of telecommunications infrastructure. In one recent investigation, hundreds of SIM cards and GSM gateway equipment were recovered from suspects accused of involvement in online gambling and related financial crimes.

These cases should be investigated rigorously on their individual merits. They do not establish a single, overarching Chinese criminal enterprise, and legitimate Chinese businesses and citizens should not be tarred by association. But neither should Bangladesh dismiss the cases as unrelated anomalies. The country's relationship with China has changed substantially, and its regulatory response must change with it.

Chinese engagement in Bangladesh is no longer confined to a handful of major infrastructure projects. Chinese companies and capital are increasingly present in manufacturing, power, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, technology and industrial development. This offers Bangladesh opportunities for investment, employment and technology transfer. Yet a larger economic footprint also means greater exposure to complex cross-border financial, commercial and criminal networks.

That is why Bangladesh must distinguish between welcoming investment and surrendering regulatory vigilance. Foreign-funded projects and businesses, regardless of origin, should face robust scrutiny over ownership, beneficial interests, financial flows, procurement, labour standards, environmental compliance and the conduct of local intermediaries. Economic dependence should never become an excuse for institutional complacency.

The trade relationship makes that vigilance even more important. Bangladesh imports vastly more from China than it exports, creating a persistent and substantial trade deficit. A deeper relationship should therefore be judged not only by the volume of Chinese investment or infrastructure financing, but also by whether it expands Bangladeshi productive capacity, exports, technology transfer and employment.

The trafficking cases also form part of a wider regional pattern. Women from economically vulnerable communities in countries including Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos have been trafficked to China for forced or fraudulent marriages. Poverty, gender inequality, weak documentation systems and unscrupulous brokers can create fertile ground for exploitation.

China's demographic imbalance is part of this wider context, but it should not be used as a simplistic explanation for individual crimes. The country's longstanding surplus of men, particularly in some rural communities, reflects a combination of son preference, sex-selective practices and decades of restrictive family-planning policies. Demography may create vulnerabilities; it does not create criminal intent.

There is nevertheless a basis for stronger bilateral action. The Chinese Embassy in Dhaka has warned its citizens against illegal matchmaking and the practice of "buying" foreign wives. That recognition should now be translated into more systematic cooperation. If Beijing seeks a deeper economic and strategic relationship with Dhaka, it should also ensure that Chinese nationals involved in criminal exploitation of Bangladeshi citizens face effective investigation and prosecution.

Bangladesh, for its part, has taken important legal steps. The Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Act, 2026, strengthens the legal framework for tackling trafficking networks. The government is also considering a standard operating procedure for marriages involving foreign nationals, including stronger document verification and authentication.

But laws will be effective only if enforcement follows. Police, CID, Special Branch, immigration authorities, local administrations and financial investigators need to share information more effectively. Marriage registrars who knowingly facilitate fraudulent unions must face meaningful consequences, while banks and mobile financial service providers should strengthen monitoring of suspicious transactions linked to trafficking.

Airport screening should also become more intelligence-led. The objective should not be indiscriminate offloading of women travelling abroad, but identification of credible trafficking indicators such as inconsistent marriage documents, suspicious intermediaries, implausible travel arrangements or evidence of coercion.

Bangladesh and China should establish stronger mechanisms for information-sharing, joint investigations and victim protection. When a Bangladeshi woman is allegedly trafficked abroad, investigators should be able to trace the broker, verify the marriage, locate the victim and follow the money across borders. Rapid repatriation and mutual legal assistance should be treated as practical necessities, not diplomatic formalities.

Communities and civil society organisations also have a role. Families need reliable information about foreign marriages, visa procedures and the warning signs of trafficking. Women contemplating such marriages should have confidential channels through which they can seek advice or report coercion before leaving the country.

The information that 4,226 Bangladeshi women obtained Q1 visas to travel to China is not, in itself, a crime statistic. It is also unclear how many of them may have been victims of trafficking. But when the rapid increase in this number is considered alongside the allegations that have come to light, one thing becomes clear: Bangladesh and China-both need to be cautious now.