Five mothers were detained for forcing children on summer holiday to beg in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to police.

11 children rescued.

The five took the 11 children - their own and those of relatives - begging in Guangxi's capital city of Nanning, living in a small, dirty house for 20 days until they were found by the police.

Nanning police at first believed they were human traffickers, but later discovered the women were mothers to eight of the 11 children. The other three were related, police said.

The suspects earned at least 20,000 yuan (US$3,131) during the holiday, police said, which the mothers claimed was intended to pay for the children's tuition.

Police said they found the children in a shabby rental house in Nanning during a nationwide campaign to prevent children begging on the street.

The five women claimed they suffered from poverty and came up with the idea after seeing other villagers making money that way.

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