By Qin Jize (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-10-13 08:54

UK police raided five restaurants in the Chinatown area of London on Thursday, which led to the arrest of more than 30 suspected illegal workers.

The move is the latest action by the UK side after Beijing and London signed the Implementation Rules on the Memorandum of Understanding on the Facilitation of Legitimate Travel and Cooperation to Combat Illegal Immigration.

The workers, a mix of Chinese and Malaysian nationals, none of whom had permission to work in the United Kingdom, were arrested in what is understood to be the biggest immigration-related raid in the city this year.

The sweep, which involved around 100 police officers, took place at lunchtime at the Royal Dragon, Golden Dragon, Luxuriance Peking, The Hong Kong and The Special Zone restaurants, stunning many customers.

The district is home to dozens of Asian restaurants and stores, attracting millions of visitors each year.

Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Quan and UK Ambassador to China Sir William Ehrman reiterated their countries' tough stance against illegal immigration by signing the Implementation Rules on Tuesday in Beijing.

According to the document, China and the UK will each grant visa-free treatment to the holders of diplomatic and some service passport as well as multiple visa treatment to service and business visitors and overseas students of the two countries.

The two sides also resolved to work together to fight against people smuggling and step up measures to tackle illegal immigration.

The UK will roll out its biometric visa program to China in the next few weeks, which means every visa applicant needs to make a fingerprint - a tougher check to stop people coming illegally to the UK in the first place.

The UK will have completed the roll-out of the collection of visa applicants' biometric data collection to 135 countries by April.

It is estimated that about 50,000 Chinese illegal workers enter the UK every year, almost equal to the number of Chinese students studying in the country every year.

Analysts say the UK is a good choice for illegal workers because of its strong currency, a good incentive to earn money in the country.