CRI听力:China's AMBER System in Operation

But it's suggested more work needs to be done when it comes to the country's anti-trafficking campaign.

The initiative involves Chinese web giants Alibaba providing technical support, and Sina Weibo posting information on missing children.

More than 5,000 anti-trafficking police will provide updates to the app, including photos and physical descriptions, upon receiving new reports of missing children.

Chen Shiqu, head of the anti-human trafficking office of the Public Security Ministry, explains how the system operates.

"Once a child is reported missing, and within several seconds after police issue the information, the application users will receive pop-up alerts on their handsets as long as they are within a certain distance away from where the child was last seen. The users are expected to help look for the child and contact police if they find something they think is useful."

The range of those push notifications expands depending on the length of time the child has been missing.

For instance, if a child is lost less than one hour beforehand, the information will be sent to those people within 100 kilometers; if the child has been lost for over three hours, the coverage will reach 500 kilometer.

The information will also be available on the system's official Sina Weibo account.

The new system is technically similar to the US alert system for missing children - America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, more commonly known as an AMBER alert.

In the United States, AMBER Alerts are distributed via multiple channels including commercial radio stations, Internet radio, satellite radio, television, e-mail, and text messages.

With the help of the system, close to 98 percent of lost children in the US can be found each year.

But according to AMBER's operator, technology actually plays a smaller part in that percentage than public participation.

"In the United States, the identification is key to this program... A big part of that is NGOs."

With an increasing awareness in recent years, the Chinese public has played a bigger role than ever in the country's anti-trafficking effort.

Earlier this month, a leading domestic realtor, Homelink, announced its 6,000 branches across the country will become emergency alert stations for children who are separated from their parents.

Su Hui with the company.

"If a child comes to seek help, we will first report it to police and hand over the child to police. If parents come to claim the children, we'll also hand over the children to police for identification. Before police arrive, our staff will accompany the children and keep them safe."

However, the move aroused criticism from the police who suggested that children who become separated from their parents remain in the area where they became lost, either waiting for their parents to find them or borrowing a handset from passers-by to contact police.

Homelink's effort was indeed a part of a larger campaign initiated by Zhang Yongjiang, who manages a private foundation focusing on child safety.

Zhang said he has good intentions.

"The move was expected to help prevent children from being harmed if they lose their parents and meanwhile, to deter child traffickers."

Wang Dawei with People's Public Security University of China says NGOs can operate as long as certain requirements are met.

"The guidance and training provided by police are necessary. The training will not only focus on rescue-related knowledge, but also address morality and psychology of NGO workers."
China has long pledged to fight human trafficking. In 2014, Chinese police rescued 13,000 missing children.

Chen Shiqu with the Public Security Ministry says after Alibaba and Sina Weibo, the system will involve more internet service providers in the future to improve its efficiency.

For CRI, this is Niu Honglin.