China Baby Trafficking: 1094 Suspects Arrested

Chinese police have arrested 1,094 people and rescued hundreds of infants in a crackdown on baby trafficking.

Four online rings using 'unofficial adoption' as a front have been targeted.

Trafficking is a major problem in China, in part due to population controls encouraging a bias towards sons.

There is a demand for kidnapped or bought baby boys, as well as girls who could attract lucrative dowries as brides in sparsely populated areas.

It is not clear what will now happen to the rescued babies

'Child traffickers have now taken the fight online, using 'unofficial adoption' as a front,' state news agency Xinhua quoted an unidentified police official as saying.

'They are well-hidden and very deceptive.'

Websites called 'China's Orphan Network' and 'Dream Adoption Home' have been exposed in the crackdown.

It is not yet clear if or how the 382 rescued babies will be reunited with their parents.

Traffickers have taken their business online in a bid to evade detaction

Xinhua is warning parents to beware of kidnappers posing as nurses in hospitals or waiting outside school gates ready to bundle children into a vehicle.

Approximately 118 boys are born for every 100 girls in the world's most populous country, compared to the global average of 103 to 107.

Sons are preferred as support for elderly parents and heirs to the family name, leading to the abortion, killing or abandonment of girls.

Last month a Chinese court gave a suspended death sentence to a doctor who sold seven newborns to human traffickers.

Population controls were eased by the Chinese government last year

Obstetrician Zhang Shuxia, 55, was found guilty of selling the babies in the Shaanxi province for as much as 21,600 yuan (£2,200).

The Chinese government announced last year that family restrictions would be eased, allowing families to have a second child in some circumstances.

China has a population of 1.4 billion.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.