BEIJING -- China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) retrieved 5.68 billion yuan (729 million US dollars) from 302 cases of tax irregularities in the first 10 months last year.

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The cases covered tax evasion, late tax payment and penalties, said Li Linjun, a spokesman for the SAT, on Wednesday.

It testified to the government's tough attitude and efforts in cracking down on illegal activities in the taxation field, Li said.

Last year, the government launched a special investigation into forged tax invoices and making false value added tax invoices, Li said.

More than 3,000 tax officials and police were mobilized to investigate 1,286 businesses across the country in the 10 months beginning February.

Police investigated 137 of the 577 businesses found to be involved in irregularities, and arrested 82 of the 116 people who were suspected of invoice-related activities, Li said. Others were still under investigation.

The value of the problematic invoices found in these cases totaled 6.71 billion yuan and involved tax revenue of 1.14 billion yuan, Li said.

Police broke up 10 criminal gangs involved in forging value-added tax invoices, Li said, without providing further details.

The authorities also cracked down on tax-related illegal activities in major industrial sectors and major areas where tax collection had been "a mess", retrieving more than 20 million yuan.

Li said tax authorities would strike harder on illegal activities this year and would mainly monitor ten industries.

These industries include the real estate, construction, catering, finance and insurance, petroleum and the petro-chemicals, food and medicines, businesses involving waste materials and their use, the processing of farm produce and byproducts, and chain stores.

China registered a tax revenue of 3.7 trillion yuan last year, excluding customs tariffs, land use and property taxes, up 21.9 percent year-on-year, according to the SAT.