At total of 568 people including children and the mentally handicapped were freed from slavery in brick kilns and illegal mines over the past few days in thousands of sites in northern Shanxi and central Henan provinces, Xinhua news agency reported.

Local officials and Communist Party members were implicated in a slave trade scandal that has stunned a nation accustomed to reports of appalling worker exploitation linked to China's rapid economic growth.

A total of 351 people -- including 22 children -- were freed from 3,700 brick works and coal mines in Shanxi while 217 -- including 29 children and 10 mentally handicapped people -- were released in Henan, Xinhua said.

Police said that they had broken up five human trafficking gangs in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, and arrested 13 members accused of supplying slave labour, Xinhua reported.

A total of 48 people linked to the scandal were detained in Shanxi, while 120 were being held in Henan, the news agency added.