A man convicted of selling his 27-day-old baby boy to pay off his debts has been sentenced to five years in prison, a court in east China's Zhejiang Province ruled on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old man, surnamed Zhuo, sold his son for 65,000 yuan (10,300 U.S. dollars) through a broker in his village in Suining County of the eastern Jiangsu Province on Oct. 3, 2011. The baby was born on Sept. 6, 2011.

Zhuo, a college graduate, had accumulated debts from his gold-related business. He confessed in court that he paid 51,000 yuan to his creditor and spent the rest of the money.

His wife Xiaoyun reported him to the police in Yueqing, a county-level city in Zhejiang two months after the deal. The baby was eventually returned to his mother.

Xiaoyun said in court that she reported Zhuo because she was "very sad and missed her son very much."

Zhuo told the court that he regretted his actions and felt ashamed to face his wife, son and his mother.

He was also fined for 10,000 yuan by the court.