Touching moment mother, 60 reunited with her long-lost son, 34

Touching moment mother, 60 reunited with her long-lost son, 34


This is the emotional moment a 60-year-old woman is reunited with her 34-year-old son who was abducted at the age of two after she searched for him tirelessly for over three decades.


The parent, Li Jingzhi, had spent the last 32 years travelling across China on a quest to look for her child, nicknamed Jia Jia, after he was kidnapped on the street in 1988.


The mother and son finally met yesterday after police tracked down a family who adopted Jia Jia years ago by paying a human trafficker 6,000 yuan, Chinese media report.


A touching video captured Ms Li and her son breaking down in tears as they run to hug each other at the Xi'an police station in Shaanxi province of north-western China on Monday.


'I saw you on TV six years ago. I thought the picture [of the child] really looked like me,' the tearful son told his mother. 'But I didn't know [you were my mother].'


The overjoyed mother can be heard replying: 'My Jia Jia is back!'


On October 17, 1988, Jia Jia's father, known by his surname Mao, took the two-year-old boy out to play in their neighbourhood in the city of Xi'an.


Mr Mao then walked into a hotel to ask for a cup of water for the thirsty toddler - and when he returned, he realised his son had gone missing.


The terrified father immediately started looking around in nearby areas with the hotel staff - but Jia Jia was nowhere to be seen.


Xi'an police also searched the local stations after the incident but failed to find any traces of the toddler.


Ms Li, who was on a business trip when Jia Jia went missing, reportedly fainted when she received the news.


Police then set up a team to investigate the case. Officers travelled to neighbouring provinces to look for Jia Jia, but to no avail.


Ms Li and her husband started spending the next few years looking for their young child, and they eventually divorced after drifting apart.


As the Chinese mother continued her quest of searching for her son, Ms Li met a group of parents whose children had also been missing. Together, they set up a local organisation dedicated to helping families find their lost sons and daughters.


For more than three decades, Ms Li visited over 20 provinces and hundreds of towns as she relentlessly searched for her beloved child.


The Chinese mother had also been using the internet and the media in the hope of expanding her search. She even helped four families to reunite with their children while desperately trying to find her own, according to the local press.


In 2009, Xi'an police designated a special team to help Ms Li look for Jia Jia after Chinese authorities pledged to crack down human-trafficking activities across the country. The officers vowed that the team would always remain in place until Ms Li is reunited with her child.


Last month, the police finally received a tip about a family in Sichuan of south-western China adopted a boy from Xi'an years ago after paying a human trafficker 6,000 yuan.


After comparing DNA samples, officers eventually located Jia Jia, who is now a 34-year-old interior designer, known by his surname Gu.


On May 18, Ms Li finally met her long-lost son after missing him day and night for 32 years.


'I'm really happy and excited,' Mr Gu told Pear Video yesterday. 'I won't give up on [both families].


'I have two mothers. One is my birth mother who looked for me for over 30 years. The other is my adoptive mother who raised me for over 30 years,' he added.


The son said that he would spend some time in Xi'an with his birth family, but would eventually return to Sichuan, where his adoptive parents live.


He added that he would consider moving to Xi'an – the city where he was born - if opportunities arise.


Human trafficking has been a serious issue in Chinese society. An estimated 70,000 youngsters – from babies up to teenagers – are snatched away from their families in the country every year.


Some are bought, some are simply stolen. They end up as labourers, in forced marriages or as the adoptees of wealthy families, either in China itself or overseas.