A police officer in Chongqing has helped more than 500 families reunite with their lost members over the years, bringing him public respect and popularity.

Fan Jinsong, 48, director of human trafficking cases investigation division under the criminal investigation department of Chongqing Public Security Bureau, has been focused on human trafficking for 21 years.

Since 2010, Fan has taken the lead in his team to arrest more than 600 suspects and rescue more than 400 abducted women, children and disabled people who were forced to participate in crimes.

"On hearing of our return after we succeeded in rescuing their child, the child's relatives set off firecrackers miles away," Fan said, recalling an early experience. "The scene touched me deeply. That was when I made up my mind to dedicate myself to the job."

It's not easy. Fan and his team need to travel all over the country — even to isolated mountain villages and the border region — to investigate a case or save a victim.

"It's no big deal living in the wild and losing sleep," he said.

In 2014, Fan traveled more than 70,000 kilometers in 300 days. Though he has experienced dizziness and headaches caused by high blood pressure for several years, he continues to work. To avoid missing any clue or assistance, he keeps several phone chargers in his car, home and office. He had more than 240 calls one afternoon.

Now and then, Fan will get a call from one of the families whose relative was rescued.

"I don't want to get involved in their lives," he said. "I think it's best for them to forget past experiences, which might have been traumatic."

To reward his dedication and performance, Fan was named for the National Top 100 Criminal Police 2020 award, the award for National Advanced Individual in Safeguarding the Rights and Interests of Women and Children and several other awards from the municipal government.

However, he feels guilty about his family, especially for his son, with whom he was able to spend little time.

"But my father was a police officer, too, and I admired the profession as a child," Fan said. "I never regretted it. That's what I wanted to do."

There are fewer cases of human trafficking in China nowadays, but some new types have emerged, such as manipulated juvenile delinquency and begging, Fan said.

"I expect all news from the national DNA-encoded library of missing children will be good news. Their DNA is all compared," Fan said. "Taking them home is my greatest desire."