Trafficked Vietnamese woman in China rescued and returned

NANNING - Chinese police have returned a Vietnamese woman sold into marriage in east China to her home country.

Police in Dongxing city in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region said they transferred 26-year-old Vuong Thi Thuy to their Vietnamese counterparts on Wednesday.

Police say Thuy became an illegal laborer in south China's Hainan province in 2005 before being ensnared in a human trafficking scheme and sold to a farmer in East China's Anhui province in 2006.

She later escaped the marriage and travelled to the cities of Shanghai and Xuzhou, where she lived as a migrant worker. In March, Thuy made a phone call to her family, who reported the situation to the Vietnamese police.

Chinese police received the request from the Vietnamese side in March and rescued Thuy on April 18 in Anhui.

Police say a rise in the drug trade, smuggling and human trafficking along the China-Vietnam border has accompanied the closer economic ties between the countries in recent years.

Earlier this month, a Chinese court upheld prison terms for a Chinese gang that kidnapped and trafficked 11 Vietnamese women between 2012 and 2013.

In March, Chinese police returned another Vietnamese woman who was trafficked in North China's Hebei province for more than two years.