South China's Guangdong Province is drafting a regulation to restrict the employment of foreigners and to ban them from certain jobs.

Under the proposed regulation, the provincial labor and social security department will divide jobs into three categories -- "encouraged", "restricted" and "forbidden" -- to be published annually, said a spokesman with the bureau.

For jobs in the "encouraged" category, the prospect foreign employees will be issued permits. Employers will be charged fees for hiring foreigners for "restricted" positions.

The employment of foreigners without permits will be illegal, said the spokesman, without indicating specific jobs in the three categories.

Foreign students and foreigners without residence permits are ineligible to work without government approval, and they risk fines of up to 1,000 yuan (about US$130) for working illegally.

This act was intended to cut crime among the growing number of foreigners illegally residing and working in Guangdong, said Yan Xiangrong, a deputy of the province's people's congress.

An estimated 10,000 foreigners are living in Guangdong, many of them financially insecure and involved in crime, such as drug trafficking, fraud and theft.

In the first half of this year, 102 foreigners were arrested on criminal charges, more than triple the number of the same period last year.

The local public security department plans to set up a data base at the end of this year, recording information of foreigners' visas, residence status, travel and departure and entrance registrations.

(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2007)