Parents hope that more people recognize the importance of Missing Children's Day, which is today, and help do something to stop more kids from becoming victims of human trafficking gangs.

A policeman supervises students as they leave their primary school Wednesday in Qingdao, Shandong Province.

Cheng Zhu of Xi'an in Shaanxi Province who established the Parents of Lost Children League after his 5-year-old daughter disappeared in 2005, told the Global Times Monday he believes the girl was snatched by child traffickers.

The organization represents 1,350 missing children, he said.

He hopes that on future Missing Children's Day people would organize activities to call attention to the serious problem.

He hopes more could be done to educate children how to avoid being snatched and to inform parents how to keep their children safe.

About 60,000 children are reported missing in the country every year and most are believed kidnapped by human traffickers, Cheng said, citing their own informal statistics.

No official statistics are available.

Missing Children's Day is recognized in several countries including the US, Canada and EU member states. However, the day is hardly known to the general public in China.

An online survey conducted by the Global Times Monday concluded that 90 percent of about 100 respondents never heard of the day, while more than 55 percent thought that such a day should be observed.

"Even if only one new person becomes aware of the issue because of this day, the chance of those desperate parents finding their children would improve," said a Web user.

Cheng said solving the problem needs support from all of society.

Zhang Baoyan, founder of Baby Come Home, a website for parents of missing children, also said that more public involvement is crucial.

"Efforts to publicize related information are still far from enough," she told the Global Times. "Some authorities and institutions declined to work with us."

Her website posted some 4,000 missing children notices and more than 1,000 notices about children looking for their parents. However, only 120 success stories have been reported so far.