Chinese authorities announced on April 2 the execution of a man surnamed Wang, who was convicted of trafficking at least 11 children over a period of nearly nine years.
According to a statement from the Supreme Court, Wang began committing these crimes in October 2001. He was first sentenced to three years in prison in November 2006 for kidnapping one child. After his release in 2008, he continued trafficking minors in several locations until December 2015, when he was sentenced to 15 years for trafficking three children.
While serving his sentence, additional cases linked to Wang were resolved. On March 15, 2019, he was transferred from prison to stand trial again. The court found that between October 2001 and May 2010, Wang kidnapped 11 children under six years old in the central Chinese provinces of Hunan, Hubei, and Sichuan and sold them in Guangdong province (southeast China).
The crimes generated approximately 199,000 yuan (about €25,057) in profit. Authorities concluded that Wang was the “primary responsible party” and that his acts were “extremely serious,” demonstrating “high social dangerousness” and “strong malicious intent,” compounded by his recidivism.
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The court also noted that Wang largely refused to confess, did not cooperate in locating the kidnapped children, and showed no remorse. Consequently, he was sentenced to death for child trafficking, deprived of political rights for life, and had all personal property confiscated.
Child trafficking remains a persistent issue in China, historically worsened by the one-child policy and gender imbalance, which the World Bank reported left 42 million more men than women in 2017. Modern technologies, including DNA analysis and facial recognition, have helped resolve longstanding cases.
Amnesty International noted in an October 2025 report that China’s use of the death penalty “remains shrouded in secrecy,” although thousands of executions are estimated to occur annually.
