A man convicted of child trafficking has had his death sentence with a two-year reprieve upheld by a higher court in Shandong province, with the ruling taking effect immediately.

The Shandong Provincial High People's Court entrusted the Tai'an Intermediate People's Court on Tuesday to deliver the second-instance verdict, rejecting the appeal filed by the defendants and upholding the original judgment.

The intermediate court delivered its first-instance verdict on Sept 19, 2025, sentencing the man, surnamed Zeng, to death with a two-year reprieve for the crime of child trafficking. It also deprived him of political rights for life and confiscated his personal property. Two other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment, and one defendant received 15 years in prison.

Court documents revealed that in late 2006, Zeng learned that a couple wanted to adopt a baby boy and conceived the idea of abducting a male infant to sell to them.

Zeng conspired with two accomplices, surnamed Lyu and Wang, to carry out the plan. Lyu was tasked with finding a suitable target and learned about the Jiang family through an acquaintance. Lyu then conducted surveillance near the family's residence.

In the early hours of Dec 4, 2006, Zeng, Lyu, and Wang broke into the Jiang family's home using crowbars and bolt cutters. Zeng and Wang used violence and threats to subdue the grandparents, while Lyu entered the bedroom and took the male victim from his bed.

The following day, Zeng and Lyu sold the abducted boy to the couple for 28,600 yuan ($4,151). The couple later registered the child under the Liu family in Jining, which is located near Tai'an.

DNA tests later confirmed the boy's true parents.