A Chinese American with a PhD has been sentenced to 8 years jail for buying and selling human skulls.

Ding Wen, 44, was also fined 300,000 yuan ($44,000) by Beijing No 1 Intermediate Court on Sept 21, his lawyer Zhao Yunheng said yesterday.

Zhao said Ding began buying human skulls in 2004 at Panjiayuan Flea Market. He then contracted craftsmen to carve pictures on the skulls, and sold the carved ones overseas at higher prices.

From August 2006 to February 2008, Ding bought 1,300 human skulls from two farmers in Qinghai province at a price of 80 to 160 yuan ($12 - $23) each. He sold more than 200 human skulls overseas and made $19,000, the Beijing Times reported.

Zhao said Ding has appealed his conviction for the offence of illegal business operation to the Beijing High Court and the hearing will be held in about three weeks.

Ding, a consultant with a Beijing-based information consultancy firm, lived in Changping district, and was arrested on June 3 last year.

Police found more than 1,100 human skills in the garage of his villa during a subsequent search of the property.

About one month earlier, the Beijing office of United States Federal Bureau of Investigation sent a letter to Ministry of Public Security which read: "We have found unknown human skulls in parcels posted to America from Beijing through EMS. Please assist to investigate the related situation," the Beijing Times reported yesterday

"Ding's behavior was not only a desecration of the dead and contrary to human ethics, but also seriously disturbed the market order," a press officer at the court surnamed Guo said yesterday.

In his defense, Ding admitted to the court he collected human skulls but said it was for his own collection or as gifts for friends, not for a profit.

Zhao said human skulls are not commodities and don't have commercial value in Chinese markets, so even though Ding violated the country's law, he didn't disturb the country's economic order. So he shouldn't have been convicted of operating an illegal business.

Zhao said Ding's behavior was not ethical and did not show respect for the dead.

Hong Daode, a professor of law at China University of Political Science and Law, said: "If Ding did benefit from selling the carved skulls overseas, he should be convicted of illegal business," he said.

Ma Weidu, a famous collector said: "It's not appropriate to collect remains of human bodies, because it hurts the dignity of the dead."