China’s Dairy Industry Association, a group of 22 milk producers, accused of selling tainted milk that sickened tens of thousands of babies, has agreed to compensate the victims, the state media announced.

The Association said it would provide one-time payments to the families of the children who were sickened or who died after consuming milk tainted with melamine, a chemical compound that is often used in the production of plastics and fertilizers.

“The enterprises offered to shoulder the compensation liability,” the association said, according to Xinhua, China’s official news agency. “By doing so, they hope to earn understanding and forgiveness of the families of the sickened children.”

As part of its promised compensation package, the dairy association said, it would also pay for the long-term health care needs of affected children.

“If the babies suffer from relative aftereffects, all medical fees will be covered by the fund,” the association said, according to Xinhua. Six children died, and nearly 300,000 were sickened. Earlier this month, the government said that more than 800 children remained hospitalized with kidney stones and other ailments.

Until the scandal broke in September, melamine was frequently added to dairy products as a means of increasing the protein content of watered-down milk.

This week the chairwoman of one of China’s biggest dairies, Sanlu Group, will face trial in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province, on charges that the company knowingly sold adulterated milk. Last week Sanlu was declared bankrupt. Sanlu, which is partly owned by a New Zealand dairy cooperative, stopped all milk production in September.