BEIJING - The DNA database for missing children set up by the Ministry of Public Security has helped over 2,000 abducted kids return home, a Chinese official said Wednesday.

The ministry has created a DNA database of more than 20,000 blood samples from parents who have lost their children in an effort to help identify abducted children and fight against the crime, according to Chen Shiqu, head of the ministry's office for the crackdown on child abductions.

Since 2009, police have uncovered nearly 16,000 cases of women trafficking and 12,000 child abduction cases. Authorities rescued more than 19,000 abducted children and 35,000 women, Chen said.

The police will keep on implementing the "zero tolerance" policy to the crime, and beef up efforts to crack down on child trafficking, he said.

Human trafficking is difficult to root out in China, partly as the conventions of "boys carrying on the family line" and "sons guaranteeing one's old age" remain deeply rooted in the countryside. In many rural areas, couples with no offspring still tend to "buy" and adopt abducted children.