China sentences 13,000 human traffickers in five years

Huang Yuxian, an 8-month-old boy who was trafficked from Guangdong to a small village in Central China's Henan province, was rescued. His mother held him tightly in her arms at the airport in Guangzhou on Sep 24, 2012. [Photo/Yangcheng Evening News]

More than 55 percent of human traffickers convicted in the past five years received imprisonment in excess of five years or even death penalty, the Supreme People's Court said.

China sentenced 12,963 people for the abduction and trafficking of women and children between 2010 and 2014 with 7,336 or 56.59 percent receiving severe punishment, Sun Jungong, spokesman for the court, said in Beijing.

Police solved 7,719 cases during the period, he said, adding that the number of such cases had been on the decline since 2012.

Last year the Supreme People's Court dealt with 978 cases while in 2013 and 2012 numbers were 1,313 and 1,918 respectively.

Related: Police rescue 14 human trafficking victims

Guangdong police have rescued 14 infants after they busted four human trafficking gangs and found all the children were sold by their parents for money.

Another infant died before the police operation was launched on Oct 16, the Guangdong provincial department of public security said on Tuesday.

One infant boy has returned home while the others are still at a welfare house in the city of Huizhou, about 110 km from Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.

The infants are between 4 to 22 months old.

Most of the victims were sold by their parents in Wenshan, Yunnan province, to Guangdong province through intermediaries for prices ranging from 10,000 yuan ($1,590) to 35,000 yuan each, police said.

Three of the victims' fathers have been detained for further investigation, while 27 suspects were arrested during operations launched in the Guangdong cities of Huizhou, Meizhou, Heyuan, Shanwei, Dongguan and Jiangmen at the same time late last year.

Meanwhile, a major channel used to abduct and sell infants and children from China's poor southwest Chinese region to Guangdong province and a big criminal network were destroyed, police said.