[rtuulik]

Its totally unrelated. Like most issues with prostitution, it is simply caused by poverty.

China is a very materialistic society with incredibly high inequality and it lacks any sort of welfare support network.

If you just walk around in shanghai, then the country might seem pretty close to first world levels of development. But if you go deeper inland, you will find hundreds of millions rural people who have been left behind, and still live in grinding poverty.

When you are that poor, then becoming a prostitute can be a acceptable option for you.

[malnourish]

I would imagine that people choose sex work even if they are not destitute.

For example, look at the American porn industry or "high-end" call girl/escort scene. Often, it seems, these women (and men) come from means, or at the very least, not squalor.

Poor sex workers are of course more open to exploitation, but you would still find sex workers in developed nations with high social welfare (Australia, for example).