Police crack child trafficking ring

Chinese police said they had arrested 40 suspected child-traffickers and rescued 40 infants, state media said on Thursday. Officials said those arrested were part of a child-trafficking ring that had at least 104 members and operated in six mainly southern provinces. Critics say China's one-child policy and a traditional preference for male heirs has led to growing incidents of child trafficking in China, despite tough penalties including possible death sentences for convicted traffickers. Last December, China executed two men and one woman who were convicted of abducting and selling 11 infants in the southwestern province of Yunnan.