A staff member reminds foreigners to fill in an arrival card at Qingdao Liuting International Airport in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province on March 5. Photo: Xinhua

Human traffickers could receive life sentences, and those who helped coronavirus (COVID-19) carriers enter China illegally will face severe punishment, said Quanzhou city officials on Saturday. 

The announcement came as the eastern coastal city in China's Fujian Province increases disease prevention efforts amid a spike in imported COVID-19 cases. 

Officials said that human traffickers who utilize illegal pathways into China would be fined and could receive jail sentences ranging from two years to life, according to Chinese criminal law.

Those who assist confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients with entering the country could face combined punishment for multiple offenses. 

Quanzhou is home to 9.5 million Chinese living overseas in over 170 countries and regions, with 90 percent in Southeast Asia, according to media reports. 

Since Saturday, 18 imported COVID-19 cases had been reported, two from the UK and 16 from the Philippines.  

Fujian's spike in imported COVID-19 carriers entering the country is due to two reasons - the upcoming Tomb-Sweeping Day holiday, and people in search of advanced epidemic prevention capabilities, said Wang Xiying, a provincial health official in Fujian, at a press conference last week. 

Although imported cases involving stowaways have not been reported, an inside source with the Quanzhou police department told the Global Times that it was necessary to impose strict measures in advance to eliminate potential risks. 

The city has tightened preventative regulations at the airport to guard against imported cases. It's important to ward off the infection from the sea as well, said the source. 

Other Chinese cities have also enhanced disease prevention efforts aimed at illegal entries as imported COVD-19 cases continue to rise. 

Authorities in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region announced they had deported 13 foreigners for illegally crossing the border and living in a small village amid local efforts to safeguard against COVID-19.