Beijing law enforcement officers have broken up three illegal foreign currency trading rings, arresting 10 people and seizing almost a million US dollars, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said Wednesday.

Over 120 police and officials from the municipal foreign exchange authority raided properties on September 13, seizing US$960,000 and over 500,000 yuan (US$63,000) in cash.

The authorities also seized 63 bankcards and froze 170 accounts, totaling funds of over 6.9 million yuan (US$870,000), showing the true scale of the operation.

The joint law enforcement bust began in June last year, when the gangs were put under surveillance, SAFE said.

Suspicions remain that the extent of the gangs' misdemeanors stretched to over 100 million yuan in assets and spread to Beijing, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Xinjiang and other regions.

China's recent foreign exchange rate reform, characterized by the slow appreciation the yuan is enjoying against major currencies, has sparked off a revival of illegal speculation, a practice which formerly profited from rigid controls on the private ownership of foreign currencies, analysts said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2006)