Many kidnapped female children are sold as brides in rural areas and estimates of the number run into tens of thousands. The All China's Women's Federation estimates about 7000 women are kidnapped each year. Aside from being sold as brides, many end up as prostitutes. The depressed rural economy is blamed in part for encouraging the trade, rampant in parts of the country during the pre-communist era. In poorer rural areas, it is cheaper to buy a bride than to hand over the dowry money normally demanded by a young woman's family.
Male children are by no means immune from kidnapping and sale.
The premium placed by many Chinese families on having a son means that childless couples are willing to take the risk of buying a boy stolen from or simply sold by his natural parents. In two other cases, the kidnappers were executed after abducting 12 and 15 children in the provinces of Jianxi and Fujian. The Age Company Ltd 2000. Any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.