Beijing, April 1 (IANS): A couple in south China's Guangdong province have been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in jail for selling their own baby, in the latest case of child-trafficking in the country.

The No.2 Zhongshan People's Court in Zhongshan city also fined the couple 10,000 yuan ($1,599) each, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to a court statement issued on Wednesday, the couple made 15,600 yuan by selling their five-month-old baby boy in a hotel in Zhongshan in June 2014.

The man, surnamed Huang, said they sold the baby because they faced hefty medical expenses for the sick infant.

Huang's parents alerted the police after finding that their son sold the baby.

Guangdong police detained the couple in Foshan city and confiscated the remaining profit -- 13,600 yuan -- from the woman surnamed Tang.

In January, police in the eastern Shandong province detained 103 suspects in a massive bust on eight human-trafficking gangs, with 37 infants freed.