China's frontier checkpoints have detected 10,247 stowaways in the past three years, according to a national conference on frontier inspection held in Hangzhou on Monday.

From 2001 to 2003, the frontier armed force of the public security inspected over 100 million cross-border passengers, among whom 10,247 were stowaways and 29,891 violated other laws and regulations, according to figures revealed at the meeting which was held in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

The present in-service armed force along China's border is responsible for 198 checkpoints of land, sea and air border ports.

In 2003 alone, 3,999 stowaways were seized and 774 human traffickers were captured in the country. In a five-month campaign from October 2003 to March this year, police captured 5,286 stowaways and 444 human traffickers, according to the Public Security Ministry.

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2004)