A CHINESE court yesterday sentenced two people to death for abducting and selling 46 baby boys for up to 40,000 yuan (US$5,880) each.

Li Diji and Wu Suiqing were given death sentences for trafficking the children between 2007 and 2009 by the Intermediate People's Court of Quanzhou City in Fujian Province.

The two, along with 11 others, sold 46 abducted male infants aged one year and younger to buyers in rural parts of Quanzhou, charging 30,000 yuan (US$4,480) to 40,000 yuan per child, the court said.

The court convicted Li and Wu of participating in the abduction and trafficking of 23 and 17 infants, respectively.

Police rescued the infants who came from Sichuan Province, Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, but have not found their parents.

Li and Wu, both natives of Quanzhou, were born in 1954.

Eleven of their accomplices received varying sentences for purchasing abducted infants, trafficking in the babies, or harboring the traffickers, the court said in a statement.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• province [´prɔvins] n.省；领域；范围 (初中英语单词)
• respectively [ri´spektivli] ad.各自地；分别地 (英语四级单词)
• intermediate [,intə´mi:diət] a.中间的 (英语六级单词)