China has sentenced to death the head of a human trafficking ring that lured dozens of women with promises of work, then kidnapped and sold them across the country, state media reported on Wednesday.

The 29-member gang sold 88 women to be wives in three different provinces, the Xinhua news agency said, citing a court in Guiyang, capital of China's southwestern Guizhou province. An 11-year-old girl was also sold, it said.

He Kaixun, the ring-leader, who had kidnapped and sold 35 of the 89 victims, was sentenced to death in his first trial, the agency said.

Two other gang members were given suspended death sentences, pending two years' good behaviour. A number of others were given jail terms ranging from two years to life.

The traffickers had promised their victims jobs packaging tea and sunflower seeds, even taking them to "a fake factory where the ring members pretended to be managers and workers", Xinhua said.

The victims were then sent to other provinces on the pretence of purchasing raw materials, but were sold as "wives" to local people, the agency added.

Eighty-eight of the victims had been rescued and sent home after police cracked down on the ring, Xinhua said, citing police, without elaborating on the fate of the remaining victim.