Beijing, Jan 23 (IANS): A Chinese court will Friday announce its verdict in a trial where four former hospital officials are accused of serious dereliction of duty in a baby trafficking case.

The Linwei District People's Court in Weinan city of China's Shaanxi province told Xinhua Thursday that the sentences would be announced in a public hearing scheduled for Friday morning.

The four accused are Wang Li, former president; Yao Junmin, deputy president; Gao Wenping, former director of the department of obstetrics and Si Xin, former administrator of the delivery rooms of the Fuping County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, said the court.

Earlier, the main suspect, Zhang Shuxia, an obstetrician at the hospital, was sentenced to death with two years' reprieve for selling babies to human traffickers.

Zhang was accused of selling seven babies, one of whom later died, to human traffickers after persuading their parents to give up their "sick" babies.

The case stirred public outrage in the country for baby trafficking after Zhang's crime was exposed in July last year, when a mother, suspected that her newborn had been abducted and reported the incident to police.

Zhang persuaded the mother and her husband to give up their boy after falsely claiming that the child had a congenital disease. The baby was found in good health in Henan province Aug 5.

Later, two twin baby girls were also rescued from Shanxi and Shandong province Aug 10 after their mother contacted the police in Fuping.

In less than a month after the scandal was exposed, police received reports of 55 similar infant trafficking cases, including 26 in which Zhang was allegedly involved. Police investigations found evidence in six of the 26 cases reported.

Following the scandal, a deputy county governor, director and a deputy director of the county health bureau were dismissed.