中国最高院誓言打击贩卖人口

China's supreme court is vowing to step up its efforts to punish criminals involved in the abduction and trafficking of women and children.

Du Guoqiang is deputy chief of the criminal tribunal under the Supreme People's Court.

"Abducting and selling children has led to the separation of many families and brings great psychological pain to the children and their families. The crimes also cause panic among the public, and the crime should be harshly dealt with."

Official figures show that courts across the country handled over 7,700 such cases between 2010 and 2014. Some 13-thousand people were punished and over 7 thousand of them were given sentences greater-than five years in prison.

In a typical case released by the supreme court, criminal suspect Lan Shushan was sentenced to death. Lan was convicted of abducting and selling one woman and 34 children between 1988 and 2008.

Officials have said that some of the kidnapped children in China had been sold for adoption or forced into prostitution.

Some Chinese families also buy trafficked women and children to use as extra labor or as brides for unmarried sons.

Observers say greater freedom of movement as a result of China's economic reforms has made it easier for trafficking gangs to operate.