Ancius tells about the Chinese characters for numbers 5 and 6.

Ancius tells about the Chinese characters for numbers 9 and 10.

Ancius tells about the Chinese characters for numbers 7 and 8.

Each year millions of Muslims from around the world make the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. And pilgrims from China are no exception. As BON’s Fergus Thompson reports, the number of Chinese Muslims from the Hui ethnic minority taking part this year is up again.

The Hajj, as the annual pilgrimage to Mecca is known, takes place this year from November 25th–29th. Over three million pilgrims are expected to converge on the holy city later this month. While the number of Chinese Muslims amongst that number is still relatively small, it is growing.

As China's economy booms and industry becomes higher tech, the need for expertise – much of it sourced from overseas – has also increased. This growing pool of foreign talent is helping development in a large number of fields. And last year, the number of experts from abroad reached almost 500,000.

Organizers of the Shanghai Expo have been left sweating over visitor numbers, which so far have been lower than expected. But there are no such concerns at the Expo's Joint Africa pavilion. It has recorded the highest number of visitors of any pavilion, to the surprise of some observers. BON's Tom Spender has more.

China was once a huge source of economic migrants to other countries. Now there's a reversal - a growing number of foreigners are moving to China to work, attracted by the economic opportunities available. The numbers are now so significant the authorities are drafting the country's first-ever immigration laws to control the number of people coming here from overseas.

The new law is expected to pide potential immigrants into different categories such as skilled and unskilled labor.

In 2007, almost 2.9 million foreigners were registered with the Ministry of Public Security as working legally in China.

That number is rising rapidly. Last year, there were 152,000 foreign resident workers in Shanghai alone, a 14 per cent increase on 2008.

The number of reported domestic violence incidents in the world’s most populous nation is a big one – but the true number may be many times as large. It has, until recently, been something largely ignored in many parts of China. But Andrew Livingstone reports on one province aiming to toughen up by finally introducing strict legislation against violence in the family.