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 Zhang Shuxia, 55, an obstetrician in northwestern
Shaanxi province's Fuping county, was found guilty of selling the
babies for as much as 21,600 yuan ($3,600) each between 2011 and
2013, the court in Weinan city said.
Zhang tricked the parents to give up their newborns by convincing
them the infants had incurable diseases or deformities, the court
said in a statement on its website.
"Though Zhang Shuxia confessed, her behavior violated both
professional and social ethics, had an extremely bad social impact,
and the circumstance of the crimes were grave," the court said.
A trafficker threw one sick child into a garbage ditch, presuming
she was dead, the statement said. Zhang was not convicted in
connection with the child's death, but the court ruled she was
partly responsible. The baby was never found.
The other six infants were rescued by police and returned to their
families.
The official Xinhua news agency said it was unclear if Zhang, who
was detained in August and stood trial in December, would appeal.
Suspended death sentences are typically reduced to life in prison.
Child trafficking is widespread in China, where population control
policies have bolstered a traditional bias for male offspring, seen
as the main support for elderly parents and heirs to the family
name, and have resulted in abortions, killings or abandonment of
girls.
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The imbalance has created criminal demand for abducted or bought
baby boys, but also for baby girls destined to be future brides
attracting rich dowries.
(Reporting by Michael Martina; editing
by Nick Macfie)
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