Parents hug their child surnamed Wang, who was abducted and missing for 26 years, in Southwest China's Chongqing. Photo: VCG

Chinese police have rescued a total of 2,609 missing or abducted children since 2016, with some missing for over 60 years, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said during a press conference held on Tuesday. DNA information was used to help police match lost children with their parents.

The police have so far this year "handled 147 cases of child abduction and trafficking and arrested 372 suspects," said Tong Bishan, a deputy inspector of the MPS' Criminal Investigation Bureau on Tuesday, adding that over 1,200 reunion activities have been held for missing children and their family members.

On June 1, over 3,000 free blood sampling sites were opened to the public under the Tuanyuan system. Tuanyuan means Reunion in English. Nearly 10,000 people voluntarily went to the public security bureaus to give their blood samples and 306 families found their missing children, according to Tong.

The Tuanyuan system was launched in May 2016, and is a platform that posts missing children's information, along with their photos, names, time and locations where they disappeared. 

Notably, two suspects have been apprehended for abducting the child of a man from East China's Shandong Province, whose story inspired the anti-abduction film Lost and Love which Hong Kong actor Andy Lau stars in. 

Meanwhile, criminal techniques, usage of data bases, along with police's rich experience in combating abduction, more creative measures were adopted in anti-abduction. From May 11 to June 11, 718 missing and abducted children were rescued with 8 suspected arrested by Chinese police, according to the MPS.