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A man in China has finally reunited with his son after searching for him for the last 24 years, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Guo Gangtang had traversed the country in search of his son, covering at least half a million kilometres chasing tip-offs on where his son might be.

He had travelled as far north as Heilongjiang, and as far south as Hainan.  Besides Tibet and Xinjiang, he had scoured practically every part of China on his motorbike in search of his son, Guo Xinzheng.

While he failed to find his son, his search had resulted in several other missing children being reunited with their parents.

Upon seeing their now grown-up son, Guo and his wife cried uncontrollably.

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His son, who had been playing unattended in front of their home in Shandong province, was just two years and five months old when he was abducted.

Guo's story had even inspired a 2015 movie "Lost and Love" (失孤) in which Hong Kong actor and singer Andy Lau played the main character without asking for payment.

After receiving the news of Guo and his son, Lau recorded a video message expressing his heartfelt wishes for the family.

Son's abduction dealt heavy shock

Guo told reporters that he still remembers the day his son went missing.

The day was Sep. 21, 1997, and he had been married for three years.

Returning back home on his tractor, he saw that several people had gathered outside his home, National Business Daily reported. His first thought was that his son had gotten injured from an accident, but the reality was worse.

His neighbours told him that his son had been taken away by an unknown woman.

As child abduction cases were uncommon in the area at that time, his neighbours had not reacted immediately when they witnessed the incident. By the time they realised something was amiss, the woman had already left with Guo's son.

Around 500 people joined in the search for the young boy, going to places such as road intersections and train stations, but the search turned up nothing even after a month.

His son's abduction dealt such a blow to Guo that his hair turned white from shock. He even dropped 20kg in a month after the incident happened.

Guo's efforts paid off when police in Henan province collected a blood sample from a man, and found that his DNA matched the DNA of Guo and his wife.

They had given their DNA samples in 2000 when DNA technology was first employed to assist in solving abduction cases.

Before he was abducted, Guo's son had not have his DNA sample taken, which was the reason why he could not be found earlier.

Made preparations two days before reuniting with son

Two days before the reunion, Guo got rid of the old furniture in his home as preparation to welcome the new, a practice in line with Chinese custom.

He also went to the market to buy red packets so he could gift his son with one when they meet.

When asked by the shopkeeper how big he wanted the red packet to be, Guo replied that it needed to be large enough to fit 10,000 RMB (S$2,093), according to Jimu News.

When asked how he planned to face his son's adoptive parents, who had raised his son and sent him to university, Guo said, "I'll just treat them like they're my in-laws."

Adding that he would treat them with sincerity, he also said he would respect his son's decision to continue to be a "filial child" to his adoptive parents.

Taken to Henan and sold

Police revealed that Guo's son was taken away by a woman surnamed Tang, who was travelling with a man surnamed Hu at the time.

The pair, who met in September 1997 and then travelled together in Shandong province, had plotted to kidnap a boy and sell him for money.

Hu had waited at a nearby gas station while Tang went in search of a target.

She saw Guo's son playing by himself, and then took him away.

After the pair returned to Henan, Hu sold the boy.

Both Tang and Hu had confessed to their crime. They are 45 years old and 51 years old respectively this year.

The case is currently undergoing investigation.

Since its inception at the start of this year, "Operation Reunion" had managed to trace down 2,609 people who were abducted, including a person who went missing 61 years ago, People's Daily reported.

The operation reunited more than 1,200 families, and arrested 372 suspects involved in child abduction cases.

Top image via Xinhua News Agency