A doctor convicted of baby trafficking received a suspended death sentence from a court in northwest China on Tuesday (January 14), state media reported.

Zhang Shuxia, who worked as a gynaecologist at the Fuping County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital in Shaanxi province, was handed a suspended death sentence with a two-year reprieve by the Weinan City People's Intermediate Court, official broadcaster CCTV said.

CCTV showed footage of a judge reading the verdict to Zhang on Tuesday morning.

Zhang admitted involvement in trafficking during her trial in late December last year, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

Zhang had convinced the parents of several children that their newborns had congenital problems, persuading them to give them up, Xinhua reported.

The Weinan City People's Court found Zhang guilty of trafficking seven babies. Six of the newborns have been recovered and reunited with their parents. But one baby was found dead in a ditch.

CCTV showed footage of police rescuing a trafficked infant from its buyers in August of 2013. The baby was reunited with its biological mother in Shaanxi province.

CCTV said that Zhang and five other suspects have been detained in connection with the case.

Tens of thousands of children are believed to be stolen each year in China.

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