China returns 10 children abducted from Vietnam

BEIJING—Chinese authorities have returned 10 children who were abducted and taken from Vietnam.

The Ministry of Public Security said late Friday that Chinese law officials held a ceremony with their Vietnamese counterparts to officially send the children home.

It says China rescued the children in 2011 after learning about the cross-border abduction cases. The children ranged in age from 10 days to 7 months at the time of their rescue. The ministry says China has arrested 43 suspects, including 10 Vietnamese.

The ministry says that since 2009, China has rescued and returned 1,804 Vietnamese women and 41 children.

A growing gender imbalance caused by an official one-child policy and preference for male heirs have fueled an underground market for abducted women and children in China.