China plans to ratify a United Nations protocol on human trafficking as part of its ongoing fight against cross-border crime, a senior official from the Ministry of Public Security said yesterday.

Chen Shiqu, head of the ministry's office of combating human trafficking, said: "China has put efforts to ratify the protocol at the top of its agenda."

The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplements the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which China ratified in 2000.