Wife sells up for jailed husband

A desperate wife has sold all her major assets as she fights to get her husband out of a Chinese prison.

Businessman Danny Cancian was jailed for five years in 2009 for killing a member of a group that attacked him in a restaurant in Canton.

Although he was fighting back, he was convicted of intentional injury. He was also ordered to pay $66,000 compensation to his victim's family.

The court increased the amount to $90,000 because he didn't pay on time.

His wife, Amanda, raised the money by selling her family home, land and cars and borrowing from relatives.

She moved into her grandmother's home with her daughter and 1-year-old granddaughter, and her son, Robert, went flatting.

"I've sold everything. We are left with just about nothing," she said. "Our family has been ripped apart."

Amanda is angry there is no prisoner-exchange programme between New Zealand and China.

"If we can sign a trade pact with China why can't we sign an extradition system?

"We are unhappy, feel disheartened and let down by the [New Zealand] Government."

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said New Zealand law did not allow for the transfer of prisoners from any country.

The New Zealand embassy and consulate in China are providing consular assistance, including visits to Cancian.

He is among several hundred inmates in Dongguan Prison. A third are foreigners and most have been jailed for drug offences.

Amanda only gets one 10-minute phone call with her husband a month. His only hope for early release is good behaviour. Amanda said that could happen late next year.

Despite her support for her husband, she has sympathy for the dead man's relatives.

"We know that Danny will be home one day, while their family member will never be home. But the facts are that Danny did not start the fight."