BEIJING - The parents of a child killed by tainted milk powder in China became the first to accept compensation and give up the right to sue the company at the heart of the scandal, state press said Friday.

The unnamed couple have accepted 200,000 yuan (29,250 dollars) from the Sanlu Group over the death of their five-month-old son last year, Xinhua news agency said.

He is believed to be the first of at least six babies who died from milk tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, it said. Nearly 300,000 others were stricken with kidney and urinary problems.

Farmers and milk wholesalers have been tried for mixing melamine into watered-down milk to make the product appear richer in protein content. The chemical is normally used to manufacture plastics.

The head of Sanlu, Tian Wenhua, stood trial late last year. No verdict has been announced.

Sanlu and 21 other dairy companies that produced tainted milk have offered 200,000 yuan in compensation to the families whose children died, Xinhua said.

A 30,000 yuan payment was offered to the families of children who suffered kidney stones or acute kidney failure, and 2,000 yuan for less severe cases, it said.

A fund has also been set up to treat the children until they reach 18 years of age.

But some parents have complained that the compensation is too little, and have called for money to be put aside to carry out research into the long-term effects of melamine on the children.