The Intermediate People's Court of Xinxiang, a city in central China's Henan Province, sentenced a labor official in Huojia County to 12 years in prison for illegal labor practices.
  
Du Zhenhai, former deputy director of the labor bureau in Huojia County in central China's Henan Province, will also be fined 100,000 yuan (US$12,000) and have his illegal income confiscated, according to the verdict.
  
The court found that Du, age 53, began sending Chinese laborers to the United Arab Emirates under Huojia County Overseas Service Company in August 2002. Du sent 61 workers to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with tourist visas, which could not provide the workers with legal jobs.
  
He received approximately 1.91 million yuan (US$230,000) of commissions and pocketed some 260,000 yuan (US$31,300).
  
Henan, an agricultural province in the middle-lower Yellow River Reaches, has become one of the most important source of laborers in China over recent years. 

(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2004)