More than 9,300 kidnapped children in China have been rescued since April 2009 since a nationwide campaign was launched to crack down on human trafficking, according to the Ministry of Public Security Thursday.

In a statement, the ministry encouraged the involvement of civilians in providing clues to help the police rescue minors -- especially those being abused and forced to beg on the streets.

In less than three weeks, a Chinese microblog called "Street Photos to Rescue Child Beggars" attracted 175,000 followers and posted more than 2,500 images of begging children online for parents to identify.

The blog was set up last month by a professor with the Rural Development Institute of the Beijing-based China Academy of Social Sciences. It has helped rescue six children so far.

However, the ministry noted in the statement that children kidnapped to become beggars took up only a small portion of all cases of child beggars. In most cases, children were taken to beg along with their parents or relatives.

The ministry has urged police authorities across the country to closely cooperate with civil affairs, urban management and health departments in apprehending people who force children to become beggars.

(Xinhua News Agency February 11, 2011)