China has pledged to address the illegal entry and overstaying of foreigners, especially from neighboring countries, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Yang Huanning, vice-minister of the Public Security Bureau, said while making a report about foreigners in China to the top legislature that dealing illegal entry, employment and overstaying is a challenging job because there is a lack of "repatriation homes" and "inadequate command of English" of officials.

Foreigners who have been caught illegally entering, staying or working in China need to stay in "repatriation homes" to await being sent back home.

Yang said foreigners who work without an authorized permit are mostly language teachers and domestic helpers. Most illegal entries come from "neighboring countries".

Police across the country discovered 20,000 illegal entries, employment and overstaying in 2011. The number was 10,000 in 1995, Yang said.

The arrival and departure of foreigners have increased at a rate of 10 percent annually since 2000, reaching more than 54 million in 2011, official figures show.