Li Rongrong, minister in charge of the State Economic and Trade Commission, said at a press conference that so far this year, government departments concerned have revoked 41,800 business licenses and closed down 152,700 offending businesses.

Vice Minister of Supervision Chen Changzhi said eight extremely serious cases investigated by his ministry have been concluded, and 152 people, including cadres at the provincial or ministerial level, have been punished in accordance with Party or government discipline.

Among the 1,403 cases concerning construction projects, 1,053 had been concluded by the end of September, and 880 people involved had been punished.

In the food industry, more than 20,000 counterfeit food producers have been cracked down on so far this year, with 12,000 business licenses suspended.

Li said that among the 94,000 Internet bars investigated nationwide, nearly 20,000 have been shut down, 48,000 re-registered, and 28,000 ordered to adjust their operations within set time limit.

As a result, Li said, the chaos in this sector has been basically brought under control.

However, Li warned, although some progress has been made in the rectification work this year, the remaining problems are still far from being fundamentally resolved.

He said that next year, continued efforts will be made in cracking down on illegal activities in cultural product, construction, food and medicine markets, but priority will be given to rectifying and regulating the financial sector, consultation agencies and tourism, and to strengthening production safety.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2001)