Gansu kindergarten operator sentenced to life in lead poisoning case

A kindergarten operator in Northwest China's Gansu province was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for producing and selling toxic and harmful food, while five others received prison terms ranging from six to 15 years, according to the local court.

The Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court sentenced Li Huifang, the de facto operator of Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui city's Maiji district, to life imprisonment, deprived her of political rights for life and ordered the confiscation of 500,000 yuan ($74,780) of her personal assets.

Zhu Jinglin, the kindergarten's executive principal, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 300,000 yuan. Four kitchen staff members — Niu Aiyuan, Wen Yafang, He Xuxia and An Chunling — received prison terms ranging from six to eight years, along with fines.

The court found that Li and Zhu had instructed and arranged for kitchen staff members to add toxic and harmful non-food substances to meals served to children and employees at the kindergarten, causing serious harm.

The court ruled that all six defendants had violated national food safety regulations and were guilty of producing and selling toxic and harmful food under particularly serious circumstances.

The sentences were handed down in a public first-instance ruling on Friday afternoon, Xinhua News Agency said.

The privately run kindergarten, located in a residential compound in Maiji district, opened in August 2022.

According to a Xinhua report on July 20, 2025, 247 of its 251 children and 28 of its 34 staff members were found to have abnormal blood lead levels.

All 247 affected children had received either hospital treatment or nutritional support at home. Of the 235 hospitalized children, 234 had completed their first course of treatment and been discharged, while one remained hospitalized, the report said, adding that experts found blood lead levels had fallen by an average of 40.21 percent following treatment, meeting expectations.