Three officials in Fuping county, Shaanxi province, were dismissed from office amid an ongoing investigation into human trafficking.

The provincial health department on Aug 4 dismissed Li Leiping, deputy head of the county government, Ji Xinmin, director of the county health administration bureau and Bian Cimei, deputy director of health.

The decision was announced by Lou Qinjian, governor of the province, at a conference concerning the case on Thursday, according to a statement issued on the website of the provincial government on Thursday.

Lou stressed at the meeting that the alleged criminals should be severely punished, and all efforts should be made to rescue the children, according to the statement.

On July 16, a woman surnamed Dong gave birth at Fuping Maternal & Child Healthcare Hospital in the county.

Prior to the delivery, Zhang Suxia, deputy director of obstetrics at the hospital, persuaded Dong and her husband to give up the baby due to a blood test that showed the child might have syphilis.

Dong's husband, questioned the validity of the blood test, and reported the case to police on July 20.

Six suspects, including Zhang, were detained, and Dong's baby was found and rescued in Henan province on Aug 4.

Police have received 55 reports of missing children that were born in the hospital. Police investigation suggests that Zhang was involved in at least 26 of those cases.

Investigation reports showed that the earliest missing-child case in the hospital happened in 2006.

Yang Jianlong, chief officer of the criminal case department of the county's public security bureau, said in five cases criminal charges have been filed.

"We will make more effort to find sufficient evidence for the cases and will give the public a satisfactory answer," Yang said.

On Aug 6 and 8, the police found two baby girls respectively in Yuncheng, Shanxi province, and Heze, Shandong province.

"A DNA test showed that the babies were twins of a local couple named Qi Kunfeng and Wang Yanyan. Zhang Suxia delivered the babies on May 30 and later confessed to selling them," Yang said.

Zhang took the twins away without letting the parents see them, saying that they suffered from congenital defects and diseases, Yang added.

Contact the writers at malie@chinadaily.com.cn and luhongyan@chinadaily.com.cn