A Chinese man, who was kidnapped when he was a child, has been found after a 24-year search for him, during which he traveled thousands of kilometers on a motorcycle in China, according to the authorities.
Gu Gangtang's son was 2 years and 5 months old when he was kidnapped from his home in eastern Shandong Province, where he was playing alone.
His kidnappers sold him to a family, according to a statement issued by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.
Child trafficking spread in China in the 1980s and in a few decades following the implementation of the so-called "one-child" policy, the kidnappings of boys who were sold to families wanting male heirs increased due to the favoritism and the limited number of boys imposed in the country.
After DNA testing, police told Gu that a 26-year-old teacher in central Henan Province was his son, and they met last Sunday, according to the ministry.
China Central Television "CCTV" showed scenes of a father and mother crying while embracing their son.
Gu was 27 when his son was kidnapped, so he quit his job to go around the country looking for him on his motorcycle, on which he put large flags and his son's picture.
The father traveled 500,000 kilometers and sometimes had to sleep under bridges and beg, and his story was the focus of a film.
Gu Gangtang's struggle raised awareness of the still sensitive issue of child abduction in China.
This good news sparked a huge wave of sympathy on social media.
Since the launch of a DNA database dedicated to the issue in 2016, Chinese police have helped more than 2,600 people who were kidnapped as children find their true parents, according to Ministry of Public Security figures.