The police in the South China province of Guangdong are making unprecedented efforts to end rampant counterfeit money crimes.

A policeman pours out counterfeit coins from a box. A total of 220,000 yuan worth of fake coins were discovered in Foshan.

Police have listed Lufeng of Shanwei, Huilai of Jieyang, Chaonan district of Shantou in the east of the province and Baiyun district of Guangzhou as the key regions for the crackdown of the crimes. They are offering generous rewards to anyone who provides tips that help the police uncover fake money hideouts or track down crucial suspects.

Police throughout the province are mustering up 17 types of police forces to crackdown on the crimes.

"Our determination and endeavors to fight counterfeit money crimes are unprecedented," said Qian Bo, deputy director of the provincial public security department's economic crimes bureau.

The province has mobilized police forces from many departments, including those responsible for crimes in finance, social security, Internet and frontier defense, for the investigation of counterfeit-related crimes and for the manhunt of fugitives, according to the official.

"We are also trying to punish those who use fake money deliberately," he added.

Anyone who uses fake money purposely will be detained and those caught using counterfeit money on three occasions will be charged with fraud or subject to re-education through labor, he said.

"That aims to stop counterfeit banknotes from circulation," Qian said.

Guangdong has long been a hotbed of counterfeit money crimes and a main source of counterfeit money. About 90 percent of the nation's counterfeit money comes from the province.

The 100-yuan counterfeit banknotes with serial numbers that begin with HD90 and HB90 are hardly distinguishable from authentic money, Qian said. These bills are made in Guangdong, he said.

Other series of counterfeit banknotes have reportedly been smuggled in from Taiwan.

Most criminals in counterfeit money making and distribution are from Shanwei's Lufeng county, Jieyang's Huilai county and Shantou's Chaonan and Chaoyang districts in the east of the province, according to a report in the Southern Metropolis Daily.

And Guangzhou and Shenzhen have been the distribution hubs of counterfeit money in China.

According to Xu Dehui, a police officer in Shanwei's Lufeng county, the long coastline in eastern Guangdong and its geographical proximity to Taiwan has made the region a smuggling hotbed.

Local counterfeiters smuggled in fake money in the 1980s and early 1990s, Xu said. However, as the authorities clamped down on smuggling, the criminals began to make fake money locally.

"The improved printing technology in China and the booming printing industry in the region have combined to boost the illegal business," Qian said.

Since many Chinese still prefer cash over credit cards, there is still a market for fake money.

In another development, police in Foshan, in the heart of the Pearl River Delta region, have confiscated about 220,000 fake coins, each with a face value of one yuan, and detained seven suspects, local police authorities said yesterday.

After an investigation of three months, police found that the suspects transported the fake coins from Guangzhou and sold them to store owners near the railway station and bus stops in Foshan.

The fake coins were made in Loudi, Hunan province, police said.

(China Daily August 7, 2009)