Two people have been sentenced in a mainland court in connection with the 1997 abduction of a two-year-old boy, whose father's persevering search for him inspired the hit movie "Lost and Love" (2015) starring Andy Lau.

One of the defendants, surnamed Hu, was given the death penalty, suspended for two years, at a court in Liaocheng in Shandong province. The other defendant, surnamed Tang, received a life sentence.

The court heard the pair, who were a couple, were involved in a number of abductions from 1997 to 1998 and in 2001.

One of the victims was Guo Gangtang's son, who was snatched in front of their home in Shandong.

Guo, played by Lau in "Lost and Love", went on a search for his missing son across the country for years by motorcycle.

Guo's son was later found in Henan province and reunited with his parents in 2021, 24 years after he was abducted. (Additional reporting by Xinhua)