BEIJING, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- China says firms involved in the country's tainted milk scandal have offered victims a settlement as the first defendants in the cases go to trial.
Twenty-two firms belonging to the China Dairy Association are to make a one-time cash payment to the families of the estimated 300,000 children sickened by the melamine-tainted milk, Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, reported.
"The enterprises offered to shoulder the compensation liability. By doing so, they hope to earn understanding and forgiveness of the families of the sickened children," said the Chinese Dairy Association.
The companies also will create a medical fund to pay for long-term effects of the poisoning, the BBC reported.
Sanlu, the Chinese dairy producer at the center of the scandal, is to contribute to the payments, the BBC reported. Sanlu, which has been declared bankrupt, is owned in part by the Fonterra group of New Zealand.
Lawyers representing the families of children who were sickened or died from the milk products say the settlement was drawn up in secret without any input from the families.
