Two men were executed Thursday morning for abducting and trafficking children, according to China's Supreme People's Court.

A statement from the court said 55-year-old Hu Minghua was executed for abducting and trafficking nine children from April 1999 to October 2005. He was also convicted of transporting heroin on January 9, 2006 in Kunming of southwestern Yunnan Province.

Hu Minghua was detained on January 17, 2006.

Five of the abducted children, all boys aged between three to six, have returned to their families while the rest were rescued by the police but have not found their parents, according to a statement by the SPC.

Another criminal was 27-year-old Su Binde, a native of Henan Province. He was executed for abducting six children from September 2005 to July 2006. Five children have already been found by the police while the whereabouts of a five-year-old boy surnamed Fu, who was abducted on April 9, 2006 in Rengu Township of Henan Province remained unknown.

Su was also convicted of leading six robberies and twelve thefts. Su led a gang of four in the robbery and kidnapping of a taxi driver surnamed Chen in Liuyuan Township of Henan Province on August 9, 2006. Chen ran off on the same night but died of organ functional failure 10 days later, according to a court statement.

Su Binde was detained on September 13, 2006.

The SPC did not provide any detail on the location of the executions.

A total of 1,714 criminals were punished for abducting and trafficking children in the first 10 months this year, said SPC spokesman Wang Shaonan.

"The crimes of children trafficking are on the rise. Children trafficking gangs now have clearer division of work and more children of migrant workers have been abducted," Wang said.

Since April 9, the Public Security Ministry has launched a crackdown campaign on children abduction and has rescued 2,008 children in over 1,700 trafficking cases as of October 12.

(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2009)