Four medical staff went on trial on Jan 6 in Weinan, Shaanxi province, for neglecting their duties in a series of child trafficking cases.

The four defendants, Gao Wenping, former director of obstetrics of Fuping County Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital; Si Xin, former interim head of the delivery room; Hao Junmin, former deputy director of the hospital in charge of the obstetrics; and Wang Li, former director of the hospital, have confessed to their crimes, prosecutors said.

The hearing ended on Jan 6 and the judgment will be announced on another day.

The defendants were charged in connection with the case of Zhang Shuxia, former deputy director of obstetrics at the hospital, who sold seven babies from 2011 to 2013, and caused the death of one baby during the trafficking.

Zhang took the babies she delivered after persuading their parents to give them up on the false claim that the babies suffered congenital diseases or disabilities.

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Shaanxi doctor Zhang Shuxia in court over child trafficking