Police from central China's Henan Province said they had rescued 217 people, including 29 children, who had been working as slaves in brick kilns.

Police said they detained 120 suspects.

The laborers were enticed or sent by human traffickers to the kilns, but upon arrival were beaten, starved and forced to work long hours without payment.

With media reports in the past two weeks focusing on the plight of children held captive in brick kilns in neighboring Shanxi Province -- and photos of distraught parents appearing in the press -- more than 35,000 police were dispatched to check 7,500 kilns in Henan during the crackdown on June 9-12.

Qin Yuhai, vice governor and police chief of Henan, said "we must do everything we can to fight human trafficking and rescue those held captive". A task force has been set up for the crackdown.

Police in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, detained 13 suspects on Friday and rescued eight people aged 16 to 70.

In Xinxiang, police raided 20 brick kilns in two towns on Saturday and rescued 23 people including 16 children.

Source: Xinhua