China is getting tougher over foreigners illegally entering, living or working in China, Vice Minister of Public Security Yang Huanning said yesterday.

The police in Xi'an, west China's Shaanxi province, repatriate a Nigerian man illegally living in the city. [File photo]

When delivering a report on the administration of entry-exit, residence and employment of foreigners to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, Yang said the crackdown will include improving visa policies, strengthening border controls, repatriating illegal aliens, and setting up repatriation locations in regions that have large numbers of such foreigners.

Most illegal foreigners are from neighboring countries, according to Yang. Language training, housekeeping and labor-intensive industries were the main sectors employing them.

Police last year investigated more than 20,000 incidents in which foreigners illegally entered, lived or worked on China's mainland, double the number in 1995.

A draft law on exit and entry administration was submitted to lawmakers for its second reading. The draft stipulates harsher punishments for people who enter or exit China illegally.

Police last year investigated more than 20,000 incidents in which foreigners illegally entered, lived or worked on China's mainland, double the number in 1995.

Almost 600,000 foreigners lived in China for more than six months in 2011, compared to only 20,000 in 1980, while 220,000 foreigners were employed on the mainland last year, compared to 74,000 in 2000.