Four executives of Sanlu Group, the major dairy at the center of China's tainted milk scandal, went on trial on Wednesday at a court in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province.

The Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court accused Tian Wenhua, Sanlu's former board chairwoman and general manager and three other executives of producing and selling fake or substandard products.

The court opened at around 8:00 AM. The three other executives are former deputy general managers Wang Yuliang and Hang Zhiqi, and Wu Jusheng, a former executive in charge of the firm's milk division.

The four were arrested on September 26.

Prior to the four, 17 people have gone on trial over charges of producing, adding melamine-laced "protein powder" to milk or selling the tainted milk to Sanlu or other dairies.

The Ministry of Health has said it was likely the contamination killed at least six babies. Another 294,000 infants suffered from urinary problems such as kidney stones.

(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2008)