Family of Liang Er and Lu Honglan Photo: qq.com

A total of 11 officials and personnel were punished after an investigation into a couple with an age difference of 30 years, from South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, who gave birth to 15 children in 21 years according to a statement from the local authorities released on Sunday. 

The couple, from Rong county in Guangxi, came back into the media spotlight recently after China's Ministry of Public Security launched a special campaign against human trafficking of women and children on March 1, following the sensational case of a chained woman in Fengxian county, Xuzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, who gave birth to eight children. 

According to a statement on the investigation launched on March 4 and conducted in Guangxi and in Guangdong and Guizhou provinces, there is no evidence of human trafficking or forced marriage in this case. 

The husband aged 76, named Liang Er, from Licun town in Rong county, and his wife Lu Honglan, aged 46, from Guizhou Province gave birth to 15 children, including four boys and 11 girls between 1995 and 2016. 

The story of the couple became a sensation and stirred heated discussions in 2016 when Liang became known as a "macho man" for marrying a woman 30 years younger and having so many children. Lu reportedly gave birth to most of her children by herself at home. The huge family of 17 has been living on Liang's single income from collecting the resin of pine trees. Between 2015 and 2019, the family also received poverty subsidies from the local government. 

According to the statement, Liang and Lu met and fell in love at work in Guangdong in 1994 and had a wedding ceremony with their relatives and friends. However, the couple never registered for a marriage. Lu kept contact with her relatives in Guizhou and the family also paid a visit to Lu's hometown in 2017. 

Among the 15 children they have, four already started working and the rest are still at school or kindergarten. The couple evaded punishment for having an excessive number of children due to the negligence of duty from the local family planning officials. 

A total of 11 officials and personnel involved in the case were punished, including the  head of the Licun town in Rong county and the director of the local family planning station.