Chinese man reunites with family 24 years after he was abducted

Abducted in 1997 when he was two in front of his house in Shandong province, Guo Xinzhen was finally reunited with his family, Global times reported. Two people have now been arrested for kidnapping and selling him.

The police were able to identify Guo Gangtang’s son with DNA testing, said China’s Ministry of Public Security. “He is fine. God treated me fairly,” Guo told the media reporters, according to Global Times.

The Police caught a man, named Hu and a woman, using her last name Tang in North China’s Shanxi Province, the report said.

According to BBC News, the accused were dating at the time of the kidnapping. They captured the child with the intention of selling him. Seeing the child playing outside Gangtang’s house, Tang took him. Hu and Tang then sold the child in the neighbouring Henan province, where he was still living.

Guo Gangtang has been known to be actively searching for his child for the past 24 years. As per BBC, he has travelled, on a motorbike, about 500,000 km and over 20 provinces in China in search of Xinzhen. Gangtang has broken bones in accidents, been robbed and damaged about 10 motorbikes. Carrying his son’s picture and banners around, he made it his life’s mission to find him.

The issue of child kidnapping has been prevalent for years in China. According to The Atlantic, “The U.S. State Department estimates that every year, around 20,000 children are kidnapped in China.”

Gangtang was a part of missing person’s associations in China and, as reported by BBC, had helped more than seven parents in finding their missing children.

On the news of Guo reuniting with his son, Chinese social media was flooded with people congratulating him. “All sufferings have their reward,” a user commented on Sina Weibo, China’s microblogging website, stated a Global Times report.