In 2025, the National Crime Agency identified Chinese organised crime as the foremost non-British organised crime threat to the UK. The wider Chinese shadow economy in the UK consists of vast number of exploited workers.
The past few decades have seen an explosion of Chinese organised crime around the world, driven by the strength of China’s economy, Chinese emigration, and the global trade and investment initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative.
In the UK, irregular migration and labour exploitation are closely linked to Chinese organised crime, as they create the economic basis for an unregulated shadow economy.
The tragic death of 58 Chinese migrants in a lorry in Dover in 2000, and of 23 whilst picking cockles in Lancashire in 2004, highlighted the plight of those involved in this shadow economy, which undermines law and order, competition and fairness in the labour market, and puts lives and human rights at risk.
This shadow economy is not small: between 2004 and 2016, the Home Office returned more than 40,000 illegal migrants to China. Various estimates claim there may be 2-5 times that number remaining in the UK illegally, although no solid data exists. Clearly, more research is needed.
UKCT’s unique research has shown how businessmen closely linked to the Chinese embassy in London are involved in this exploitation.
An important example is To Ming Lam, who has for years had a reputation as a major underworld boss. Lam’s restaurants have been fined hundreds of thousands of pounds by law enforcement officials. Yet the Chinese embassy has prominently honoured Lam as a leading qiaoling (“Overseas Chinese leader”) in its United Front system. More information on Lam and other such figures can be found here.
In the past, Chinese officials and politicians have on a few occasions referred publicly to a desire to build ties with groups such as the Hong Kong Triads, sometimes with reference to the United Front framework whereby the CCP seeks to encourage ‘patriotism’ amongst non-CCP Chinese individuals, organisations and entities, including abroad.
Around the world, a pattern is emerging: where convenient or useful for influence in politics or amongst the Chinese diaspora, the CCP is proving itself adept at cultivatating ties with criminals, wheeler-dealers and dubious businessmen amongst the diaspora, often by means of the Party’s United Front system. Striking case studies of this can be seen across Europe, North America and Southeast Asia.
UKCT also examines exchange and co-operation, or the lack thereof, between law enforcement in the UK and China.
All in all, this is one of the least studied significant aspects of UK-China ties, and UKCT is determined to promote education and research into it.
