A senior official of Guangdong province vowed on Sunday to establish a long-term mechanism and introduce tougher measures to fight the illegal sex trade.

At a special work meeting in Dongguan to tackle the problem of prostitution, Hu Chunhua, Party chief of Guangdong, said the province would not allow social evils like the illegal sex trade to become rampant. Local police launched a three-month crackdown on prostitution in February.

"We have achieved periodic results in the fight against prostitution as most venues allegedly involved in the illegal industry were shut down and a number of people including government officials who were connected to the problem were punished," Hu said.