A man who allegedly killed 13 people, including three policemen, stood trial Thursday for murder, robbery and rape crimes in a local court in south China's Guangdong Province.

The hearing of Cheng Ruilong at the Foshan City Intermediate People's Court is expected to last two days, said a spokesman with the court.

Cheng, 36, was charged of killing 13 people and seriously injuring another in a series of kidnappings for ransom, armed robberies and rape crimes, alone or with his three complices in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and provinces of Hunan, Zhejiang, Chongqing and Jiangxi from 1995 to 2005, according to indictment.

They also looted 288,610 yuan (42237 U.S.dollars) in cash and property, the indictment indicated.

On May 22, 1998, Cheng shot two policemen, Jiang Minghua and Deng Yongjian, to death when they stopped and questioned Cheng and his complice Lan Qirong in Foshan City of Guangdong. Three years before, Cheng also shot a policeman dead in Guangxi, court spokesman said.

The Ministry of Public Security in 2001 issued an A-class warrant for the arrest of Cheng, according to the public security bureau of Foshan.

However, Cheng changed his identity to Zhou Quan and lived in Jiangxi. He was arrested there in January 2005 and jailed for seven years after being convicted of robbery.

Jiangxi police identified him on May 20 last year after comparing his information with files obtained from the ministry on the same day, and transferred him to the public security bureau of Foshan.