With a population of 480,000, Gucheng county is one of the biggest sources of transnational migrant workers and has exported more than 10,000 laborers since 2004 to work in more than 10 countries, including Japan, South Korea, Israel, Singapore and Saudi Arabia, according to the county's foreign economic and trade bureau.

Zhu Yunxiang, 78, the grandfather of Zhu Yu, one of the workers allegedly cheated by the job agency.

"Thousands have returned back after several years' working overseas," said Sun Guangping, head of the bureau. "They not only got some money and work skills but also broadened their outlook. Many of them opened their own business and created 20,000 more jobs."

He said that in Xiaome, a small county village, only two people were working abroad in 2002. That number is now 336, about 20 percent of the population. Each household has about 200,000 yuan in savings, he said.

But although potentially profitable, working overseas presents many pitfalls, warned experts who cited examples of late payment, unsanitary living conditions and racial discrimination, as well as other tragedies.

Vietnamese authorities found 182 illegal Chinese laborers working at a cement factory without visas in June last year. Each was fined 5 million dong ($270) and deported. In 2008, two Chinese workers were kidnapped in Pakistan, while hundreds of Chinese at a textile factory in Mauritius staged a mass protest after one laborer died of exhaustion.

Legal professionals have called for domestic and foreign labor unions to protect the transnational labor force. "Many employers turn a deaf ear to local laws and regulations. Someone has to be responsible for ensuring Chinese do not suffer discrimination or have their rights abused," said lawyer Ping.

Feng Tongqing, vice-president of the China Institute of Industrial Relations, agreed and said: "With the help of labor unions both home and abroad the situation of Chinese labors overseas would be greatly improved. Laborers are not just commodities; they are real people with legitimate rights and feelings. They need respect, attention and care from motherland."

People planning to work overseas should receive more training before going abroad, he said. "The proportion of trained migrant laborers is still very low. We also need to study basic domestic and international laws, as well as foreign affairs and customs."

Experts also urged the government to get even tougher with fraudulent intermediate agencies to clampdown on the number of migrant workers being conned.

"The management and supervision of labor export is very limited and unsustainable," said Chang Kai, director of the institute of labor relations at Renmin University of China. "The government needs to speed legislation and highlight the protection of labor rights and security, as well as take more responsibility in protecting laborers in foreign countries."

He suggested labor counselors be dispatched to all Chinese embassies in countries with large numbers of migrant workers.

Laborers should protect themselves by studying the laws and regulations of the country they plan to work in, and learn key phrases in the host language to prevent disputes, said experts.