(Yicai) Nov. 13 -- The head of a maternity hospital in southern China's Foshan is under police investigation due to suspicion of selling birth certificates, an activist said to Yicai.

Shangguan Zhengyi, an activist who fights child trafficking, posted on Nov. 11 on social media that Fuaijia Maternity Hospital in Guangdong province had been colluding with online agencies to sell birth certificates on short-video platforms. The price was CNY120,000 (USD16,446) for fabricated medical records and a birth certificate.

Founded in 2018, Fuaijia is a high-end hospital specializing in maternity care, based on public information.

In China, only hospitals can issue birth certificates which are important for household registration. Chinese authorities have emphasized the need to enhance the management of birth certificates multiple times to prevent child trafficking.

Yicai called Foshan's municipal public security bureau, but a worker refused to comment on the matter. Phone calls to the hospital were not answered.

Xinhua News Agency reported on Nov. 11 that Foshan had set up a joint working group regarding the allegations and already implemented criminal coercive measures on the head of the relevant hospital.

Earlier this month, Shangguan also reported that the president of Jianqiao Hospital, a private hospital in central Hubei province, allegedly sold birth certificates. The Supreme People's Procuratorate has approved the arrest of six suspects in this case and four others are detained by police, the municipal health commission said yesterday.

Editor: Emmi Laine