33 illegal Asian immigrants arrested in China

At least 33 Asian immigrants have been arrested in China's Guangdong province, where they went to look for work.

According to frontier police of Maoming city, the 33 stowaways, all from Southeast Asia, including five women, were travelling in a van on National Highway 325 when they were arrested Wednesday.

According to one of the migrants, they decided to illegally immigrate to China when they read newspaper reports of a severe labour shortage in the province, Xinhua reported citing police Thursday.

A survey published Monday showed a shortage of 123,300 workers in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. Almost 80 percent of the companies surveyed were concerned about returning to full production after the Spring Festival holiday.

Chinese migrant workers traditionally return to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year and look for new jobs after the holiday.