Criminal cases see a drop in China

China is a country with one of the lowest crime rates, lowest homicide rates and fewest gun and explosion incidents, according to data released by the Ministry of Public Security.

Last year, the number of criminal cases filed nationwide decreased by 12.9 percent compared with 2019, ministry spokesman Li Guozhong said at a news conference in Beijing.

Data showed that the number of serious violent crimes in eight categories, including homicide and explosion, dropped 10.7 percent, with the homicide rate as low as 0.46 per 100,000 people. At the same time, the nationwide homicide case solving rate reached 99.9 percent, the highest level in the nation's history.

Li said that specialized operations targeting violent terrorist activities have resulted in no terrorist incidents across China in over seven years, adding that authorities have also rigorously cracked down on cult practices and carried out extensive education as well as transformation of individuals involved with cults.

Over the past five years, efforts have been intensified to improve mechanisms to prevent economic crimes affecting large sections of the population and avert financial risks, leading to nearly 400,000 economic crime cases being solved and over 230 billion yuan ($32 billion) in direct losses being recovered, the spokesman said.

In addition, measures for network security protection, critical information infrastructure security and data security have been strengthened through continuous campaigns, Li said.

These efforts focused on tackling online issues such as infringement of personal information, cyber rumors, cyber violence, paid internet trolls and businesses supporting online crimes, resulting in the investigation of 453,000 cybercrime cases, he said.

"Efforts have been made to study the characteristics and patterns of crimes under new circumstances, improve measures for combating and preventing crimes, and strive to solve major cases more swiftly and minor cases more frequently, while maintaining better control over crime rates," Li said.

Regular campaigns against organized crimes have been promoted, with rigorous actions taken against prominent offenses such as prostitution, gambling, theft, robbery and fraud, particularly telecom and online fraud, he said.

Over the past five years, more than 5,200 mafia-like criminal organizations have been dismantled, and over 1,600 fugitives involved in organized crimes have been apprehended at home and abroad, according to the ministry.

Nearly 1.95 million telecom fraud cases have been resolved, and about 49,000 Chinese telecom fraud suspects in Myanmar have been handed over to Chinese authorities, data showed.

Compared with 2019, the number of theft, robbery and fraud cases filed in 2023 decreased 31.4 percent and the number of abduction cases plummeted 66.6 percent.

The ministry has also continued to carry out special campaigns targeting crimes in the food, drug, environmental and intellectual property sectors, solving 354,000 cases.

Efforts to combat illegal fishing in the Yangtze River basin have persisted, resulting in a two-level improvement in the biological integrity index of the river's main stream since 2018.

Li said China's public security authorities have actively implemented the Global Security Initiative, achieving significant results in international law enforcement cooperation and contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to global security governance.

China has also reached numerous agreements with other countries on practical cooperation in areas such as counterterrorism, anti-drug efforts, fugitive apprehension and asset recovery, and the protection of overseas interests, he said.