Yang Fengrui, vice director of the National Narcotics Control Commission Office, presented the government’s anti-drugs efforts at a State Council Information Office press conference in Beijing on May 26.

According to Yang, in 2004, all levels of government and narcotics control authorities enhanced their work against illegal drugs and have made great progress:

In 2004, 98,000 criminal cases were cracked and 67,000 suspects detained. Authorities seized 10.8 tons of heroin, 2.7 tons of methamphetamine, over 3 million ecstasy pills and 160 tons of chemicals used to manufacture narcotics.

Eight areas with particular drug problems, including Yunnan Province’s Weishan and Guangdong Province’s Puning, also successfully controlled criminal drug-related activities last year, reducing drug use and trade in public places of entertainment with effective management measures.

The number of new drug users decreased in 2004, with those aged under 35 continuing to fall. About 88,000 ex-users have successfully stayed off drugs for more than three years, and in some places numbers of heroin users have fallen sharply. This was attributed to increased public awareness and successful publicity.

International cooperation has also been fruitful, with important cases involving joint work with the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. China is helping substitute industry development in Myanmar and Laos, investing nearly 500 million yuan in it in recent years. Opium poppy cultivation has decreased significantly in the north of Myanmar, for which China provided 5 million yuan to develop substitute industries.

(China.org.cn by Wang Sining May 27, 2005)