BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- China witnessed a 25.7-percent decline in criminal cases in 2024 compared to the previous year, the Ministry of Public Security said on Friday.

Cases of public security remained largely unchanged, and the overall public safety situation remained stable, the ministry told a press conference.

"China is one of the countries with the lowest homicide rate, the fewest gun and explosive-related cases and the lowest rate of criminal crimes," said spokesperson Li Guozhong.

Li said that national public security organs had made consistent efforts in maintaining social stability and safeguarding people's safety and wellbeing.

As Friday marks China's fifth national police day, another spokesperson Zhang Ming sent specific greetings to police officers in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, who are supporting disaster relief efforts after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the plateau region on Tuesday.

Following the earthquake, more than 460 police officers from the city of Xigaze, the epicenter of Dingri County and surrounding areas rushed to the scene to carry out rescue operations, emergency response and security patrols and control.

Padma Wangdu, a police officer at Xigaze public security bureau, is working on the frontline. He told Xinhua that the communications and traffic in Dingri are currently smooth, and the insufficiency of some relief goods has been settled.

DEFEND PUBLIC SECURITY

Li told a press conference that new progress has been made in addressing various crimes. In 2024, a total of 11,700 criminal cases of various types were solved. Additionally, 22,000 cases related to firearms and explosives were cracked, resulting in a 37.5 percent year-on-year decline.

Public security authorities solved over 17,000 cases related to food and drug safety crimes across the country, according to the ministry, adding that police solved more than 78,000 economic crimes, recovering 30.67 billion yuan (about 4.27 billion U.S. dollars) in financial losses.

Additionally, 38,000 drug-related cases were cracked by Chinese police, with 24.4 tonnes of various drugs seized, the ministry added.

Road traffic safety across the country was stable, with no major traffic accidents reported for 63 consecutive months, the ministry added.

On the frontlines of fighting crime and safeguarding public safety, 208 police officers lost their lives in the line of duty in 2024, according to the ministry.

It noted that 174 auxiliary police officers died at their posts during the year.

In addition, 4,743 police officers and 3,710 auxiliary police officers suffered injuries while performing their duties.

COMBAT TELECOM, INTERNET FRAUD

Telecommunication and internet fraud crimes posed a significant threat to people's property and safety in recent years. Facing challenges such as the emergence of new forms of crime, Chinese police have intensified counter-fraud efforts.

Over the past five years, nearly 1.95 million telecom and network fraud cases were uncovered. Notably, since a special campaign was launched in July 2023 to combat telecom and internet fraud originating from northern Myanmar, more than 49,000 suspects had been handed over to China.

"The upturn in the number of telecom and network fraud crimes has been effectively curbed," said Li.

In this process, modern technologies have been leveraged to strengthen warning systems. Since 2021, public security organs have worked with related departments and successfully intercepted nearly 7 billion fraud calls and 6.84 billion messages, with the delivery of 1.1 trillion yuan of funds blocked.

Chinese police have also enhanced international law enforcement cooperation in this field, dispatching multiple work teams to Southeast Asian countries, leading to the dismantling of 37 fraud syndicates abroad. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)