The trial at a court in Hebei Province of four executives of the Sanlu Group, the major dairy at the center of China's tainted milk scandal, ended without an immediate verdict at 10:10 PM on Wednesday.

The trial opened at 8:00 AM.

Prosecutors accused Tian Wenhua, Sanlu's former board chairwoman and general manager, and three other executives of producing and selling fake or sub-standard products.

Sanlu Group Co., Ltd., represented by its trade union chairman Ran Weiguang, was also a defendant.

The three other executives are former deputy general managers Wang Yuliang and Hang Zhiqi, and Wu Jusheng, a former executive in charge of the milk procurement division.

All four defendants were arrested on September 26.

At the end of the trial, Ran, on behalf of Sanlu, offered apologies to children sickened by the tainted milk and their families.

The verdict will be announced at an unspecified future date.

(Xinhua News Agency January 1, 2009)