The National People's Congress has the power to enact and amend basic laws concerning criminal offenses. Newly-elected deputy Zhang Baoyan from northeast China's Jilin province is the founder of an organization helping families find their missing children. She proposed stiffer penalties against child trafficking in her motion. CGTN's Guan Yang met with deputy Zhang before she arrived in Beijing for the Two Sessions.  

2,314 in 11 years. That is the number of people who found their missing loved ones with the help of Zhang Baoyan and the charity she founded - "Baby come home".

ZHANG BAOYAN, NPC DEPUTY TONGHUA, JILIN PROVINCE "I always have clothes for all seasons in my suitcase. I don't know where my next destination would be since I am constantly on the move to help people find their missing children."

China's criminal laws punish child traffickers with imprisonment of 5 to 10 years. Serious involvement can result in a sentence of anywhere between 10 years and life in prison. In extreme cases, the penalty is death. But deputy Zhang believes these are not enough. She wants the law to do away with the maximum period of time for prosecuting child trafficking cases.

ZHANG BAOYAN, NPC DEPUTY TONGHUA, JILIN PROVINCE "Many traffickers are still at large, because the law states that a suspect will not be prosecuted when a case passes the period of limitation of actions. We've had many victims identify traffickers after growing up, but the court could not accept the case because it happened 10 or 20 years ago."

Zhang has more than 280,000 volunteers nationwide helping her find lost or abducted children. The central government has also paid more attention to the issue: the country's criminal law was revised in 2015 so that people buying trafficked children would face criminal charges.

ZHANG BAOYAN, NPC DEPUTY TONGHUA, JILIN PROVINCE "Only through the National People's Congress can our voices be heard and turned into action. As a new NPC deputy, my motion to amend the limitation period for cases of child trafficking was a suggestion from ordinary people. Many who have dedicated their lives fighting this crime have gone through the same experiences."

GUAN YANG TONGHUA, JILIN PROVINCE "Zhang Baoyan recalls that her intentions of opening the service 11 years ago were simple: it would be a worthy effort, even if just one child was found. Today, after being elected as an NPC deputy, the motion she proposed in fighting child abduction, are being heard by the NPC sessions, and perhaps, will lead to an amendment of China's criminal law. GUAN YANG, CGTN, JILIN PROVINCE."