Police have rescued 33 women, including some from Burma and a child, who were trafficked to northern China's Shanxi Province and arrested nine suspects. Most women and the infant were abducted from the southern Yunnan Province, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Police began the investigation after hearing that Li Xiuhua from Shuitongsi Village of Tianzhen County had been engaged in human trafficking for years.

During the investigation, police confirmed Li's crime and also found four accomplices from Yunnan Province.

Police took action on the night of May 5, rescuing 11 women and catching five suspects, the report said.

They confessed to more crimes and gave up more accomplices. Police then rescued another 22 women and a six-month-old from villages around Datong city.

Twenty-one women and the infant were sent back home by police while 12 chose to stay as they had already got married and had children there, according to the report.

(Shanghai Daily August 19, 2009)