Chinese police had dealt with about 15,000 people caught for drunk driving in a two-month nationwide crackdown on driving under the influence of alcohol launched on Aug. 15, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

Among these drivers, 2,052 or 13.7 percent recorded a blood alcohol concentrations at or above 80 mg per 100 ml when seized by the police, the ministry said in a statement on its website Saturday.

The highest number of drunk-driving cases were reported in eastern Zhejiang Province with 3,075 cases, Shandong Province with 1,677, Shanghai Municipality with 1,542, Jiangsu Province with 1,268 and national capital Beijing with 1,119, the statement said.

Males make up about 98.6 percent of such drivers, 72 percent of them aged between 30 to 49, and 97.4 percent are private car owners, it said.

According to the ministry, if drunk drivers are caught, their licenses will be suspended for three or six months and, in serious cases, the driver would be detained for 15 days.

If a drunk driver is caught twice within one year, his or her license will be revoked for two to five years.

The campaign was launched to prevent serious traffic accidents ahead of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in October.

It is also the latest ministry move against drunk-driving following increased media coverage of traffic fatalities and accidents in recent months.

On Aug. 4, a drunk driver in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, killed a 16-year-old girl. Two days later, another drunk driver in Shanghai killed a four-year-old boy and injured three others.

The ministry said "no obvious drop" in the number of drunk driving cases were reported since the campaign was launched a week ago.

While vowing tighter monitoring on the road, the ministry called on working units, colleagues and relatives to take part in the anti-drunk driving campaign to achieve more favorable results.

(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2009)