China's Toxic Milk Company Sanlu Sold

Sanlu, the Chinese dairy firm that produced milk that poisoned more than  300,000 infants, has been sold at auction for 617 million yuan (£61 million).

At least six babies died and 300,000 more developed kidney stones in September after drinking milk laced with melamine, an industrial chemical more commonly found in plastics. Sanlu was at the epicentre of the crisis, although 22 other Chinese dairies were subsequently found to have added melamine into their products.

Sanlu, which was part-owned by the New Zealand dairy group Fonterra, subsequently filed for bankruptcy and saw its chief executive, Tian Wenhua, jailed for life.

Beijing Sanyuan Group, one of the few Chinese dairies untouched by the milk scandal, bought all of Sanlu's assets and has already restarted the pasteurized milk production line at Sanlu's headquarters in Shijiazhuang.

The Chinese media also reported that Sanyuan had borrowed 900 million yuan to pay compensation to infants who suffered from melamine poisoning.

Source: The Telegraph