BEIJING - A Chinese court has officially accepted the first lawsuit seeking compensation for last year's tainted milk scandal, state media said Wednesday, opening up the possibility of a flood of court actions.

A district court in the northern city of Shijiazhuang decided on Wednesday that it would hear the suit filed against the Sanlu Group, the dairy firm at the centre of the poisoned milk controversy, Xinhua news agency said.

The lawsuit was filed by an unnamed parent of a child who was sickened by the milk, it said.

At least six infants died and nearly 300,000 were made sick last year by milk powder contaminated by the industrial chemical melamine, which was added to milk supplies to give the appearance of a higher protein content.

The substance caused kidney stones and other urinary problems in the infants.

The suit follows months of delays in which lawyers for plaintiffs told AFP they were warned not to sue over the scandal, which embarrassed China internationally by exposing chronic holes in food-safety mechanisms.

However, authorities signalled earlier this month they were ready to yield when a top official with China's highest court was quoted by state media saying the government was preparing to accept cases.

Xinhua quoted a lawyer identified as Peng Jian as saying the Shijiazhuang court had accepted his client's suit seeking compensation of 31,000 yuan (4,500 dollars) from Sanlu, which is based in the city, capital of Hebei province.

It gave no other details of the case.

More than 100 families were lining up to sue Sanlu, state media had reported earlier in March.

The reports had said many suits also had been submitted at other courts around the country and were waiting to be officially accepted.

Sanlu was one of China's biggest dairy producers but it has since gone bankrupt after becoming the first of 22 companies found to be selling tainted products.

The report did not make clear who would pay out any possible compensation with Sanlu bankrupt.

A court last month sentenced the company's former chief to life in prison over the scandal. Several other people were either sentenced to death, life in prison or lengthy jail terms.