Chinese police have recently cracked a series of major cases concerning child abduction, arresting 40 criminal suspects and rescuing 22 kidnapped children.

According to a Thursday statement from the Ministry of Public Security, 30-year-old Su Tonghui and other leaders of a gang involved in human trafficking were discovered kidnapping children in southwest China's Yunnan Province and selling them in southeast Fujian Province.

Police authorities in the two provinces simultaneously dispatched more than 200 police officers on Wednesday to arrest the gang members and rescue the kidnapped the children, according to the statement.

The statement said that several major suspects were arrested, including Su Tonghui, 28-year-old Su Tonglin, 43-year-old Mao Xingkai and 25-year-old Pu Jingcong.

Police located and rescued 22 children who had already been kidnapped by the gang, according to the statement. Their cases are still under investigation.

China launched a campaign to crack down on kidnapping and human trafficking in April of 2009. As of March 14 of this year, police have rescued more than 13,000 abducted children and 23,000 women.