BEIJING : A kidnapping gang in China used a 12-year-old boy to lure other children away from their parents, and then sold the victims to rural families looking for sons, state press reported Thursday.

Nine boys, aged between two and eight, had been abducted in central China's Henan province since April, before the gang was busted in recent weeks, Xinhua news agency said, citing local police.

Ten members of the kidnapping gang including its 55-year-old leader, Ye Zengxi, his brother, son and daughter-in-law, had been arrested, Xinhua said.

"The gang used Ye's 12-year-old nephew to lure other children away from their parents' view with toys or food, and then whisked them away by motorbike," Xinhua said.

Each child was sold for 20,000 yuan (2,700 dollars) to farming families, who apparently wanted to raise the boys as their own sons to continue the family line, Xinhua cited police as saying.

All the children had been rescued, according to Xinhua.

Kidnapping of children and women is a growing problem in China, the central government said last month as it announced a five-year plan to combat the problem.

"There are new trends... in crimes that involve women and children trafficking. The situation is not optimistic," the government said.

Around 3,000 cases of women and children being abducted are reported to police each year, according to official statistics, although the true number of victims is widely believed to be far higher as many cases go unreported.

- AFP/ir