BEIJING, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Police in Haidian District, Beijing, recently launched a crackdown on "hospital scalpers" who acquire sought-after outpatient appointments in major hospitals, which saw 33 suspects detained on criminal charges.

In China, patients can book public hospital outpatient appointments either on-site or online. Top-notch hospitals in Beijing attract patients from across the country, which has led to overcrowding and made getting an appointment more difficult.

Scalpers exploit the scarcity and make matters worse. Across China, sought-after appointment slots for outpatient care, museum visits, campus tours in prestigious universities, concert tickets and holiday-season train tickets all fall prey to scalpers. Accordingly, the battle against scalpers has intensified.

The offenses not only encroach upon public resources, but also deprive the public of enjoying the benefits of social and economic development, therefore, addressing the practice is part of the country's people-centered reform measures.

An official statement said that the Haidian police found that online appointment slots to see renowned doctors in the jurisdiction's hospitals were always unavailable. However, in online chat groups, some lawbreakers were found to be reselling the extremely sought-after appointment slots at prices far exceeding the original costs.

The police found that these "hospital scalpers" were using cheating software to snap up appointment slots made available at a designated time every day -- the time varies from hospital to hospital.

During the police raid, a large number of mobile phones, tablets, and other cheating tools were seized. The cheating software installed on the devices clicks the button nearly 100 times per second, increasing the criminal's chances of securing the slots over a regular applicant.

The Haidian police vowed to maintain a "high-pressure" approach and resolutely crack down on such illegal activities.

The Chinese government in May launched this year's nationwide campaign to rectify misconduct in the country's medical services, including cracking down on "hospital scalpers."

In other sectors susceptible to scalping practices, the crackdown on such offenses has also ramped up.

During the summer break, Beijing police have set up a special task force to tackle the illegal activities of scalpers who seize and resell tickets for scenic spots and appointment slots for popular universities, detaining nearly 180 individuals on criminal and administrative charges respectively.

The National Museum of China, collaborating with Beijing police, has intensified its efforts to combat ticket scalping. During the summer break, nearly 1.6 million people were vying for 26,000 available tickets daily.

Key measures include implementing a policy where returned tickets will not be re-released into the ticket pool, enhancing identity verification to prevent fraudulent bookings, and blocking virtual phone numbers and high-frequency IP addresses.

In southwest China's Sichuan Province, Sanxingdui Museum, which displays artifacts unearthed from the Sanxingdui Ruins, is immensely popular among tourists. The extremely sought-after tickets also fall prey to scalpers.

According to Zhang Song, a technical executive at the museum, apart from using ticket scalping software, the scalpers use simulated IP addresses to deceive the ticketing system. One illegal account even managed to grab more than 7,000 tickets in little over a month.

The museum has taken various countermeasures. For example, the museum has repeatedly upgraded the ticketing system, including prohibiting access for certain accounts, introducing an anti-scalping system, and intercepting scalpers through algorithms, and limiting the number of ticket purchases with the same ID card.

In addition, since April, Sanxingdui Museum has opened a reservation channel for travel agencies and extended its visit hours. Enditem

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