Why China - Safety

Based on crime rates China is one of the safest countries in the world. According to the security consulting agency Control Risks, China is as safe as Europe.

This is certainly a result of the strict legislation in China: firearms, gambling, prostitution, and pornography are prohibited. In addition, many crimes are punishable by the death penalty, including, but not limited to murder, tax evasion, drug trafficking, or rape.

Additionally the collectivistic influenced Chinese society perceives deviations from the behavioral norm often as undesirable, an aspect not shared by Western cultures. This also reflects in the crime rate. The U.S. has a four times larger murder rate than China. The ratio of inmates to general population is six times higher in the U.S. Also the ratio of police force to general population is three times higher in the U.S.

If you follow the same rules of conduct regarding your safety like at home, you should expect nothing bad to happen.

Data sources:

• http://www.prisonstudies.org/info/worldbrief/wpb_stats.php?area=all&category=wb_poprate
• http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime.html
• http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=71