Key Points:

A Chinese court is set to sentence 21 defendants implicated in the melamine-tainted milk-powder scandal today. The defendants include four former senior executives of New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra's Chinese joint venture, the Shijiazhuang-based Sanlu Group. Fonterra had a 43 per cent stake in Sanlu. It was estimated the tainted milk powder killed at least six babies and made a further 294,000 ill. The four executives included Tian Wenhua, 66, Sanlu's former board chairwoman and general manager, who admitted the charges against her last month. The other defendants' pleas were not known.