(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-25 20:49

A nationwide campaign against robbery and fugitives is to be launched in February, Chinese police authorities said on Friday.

The eight-month campaign will be aimed at reducing robbery, burglary and motor vehicle theft and apprehending fugitives from major criminal cases, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said.

"In recent months, several serious robbery cases occurred, which have threatened people's safety and property security and impaired our social stability," said MPS vice minister Zhang Xinfeng.

"We must play our due role in safeguarding public order and give people a stronger sense of security, especially ahead of the Spring Festival, the two important meetings of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympics," Zhang said.

In recent days, the MPS issued several class B warrant for suspects. On January 21 it issued a class B warrant for a murder suspect. The suspect, Zhu Xinwen, allegedly killed someone during the course of a robbery on January 18, 2007, in Langfang, a city in Beijing's neighboring Hebei Province.

The ministry uses several types of warrants, starting with class A for very serious crimes. The class B warrant is for less serious offenses and is generally issued at the request of lower-level authorities. It also has a reward of about 10,000 yuan (US$1,390) for information leading to an arrest.

More than 343,000 bicycle thieves were arrested in 2007, the ministry announced, referring to a crackdown on bicycle thefts launched by six ministries between March and November.

Over that period, 1.41 million bicycles, including 376,000 electric ones, were recovered, and nearly 1 million bikes were returned to their owners, officials said.

Two million bicycle thefts were reported in 2007, 50 percent fewer than in 2006, according to the ministry.

There are some 460 million bicycles in use in China, the "Kingdom of Bicycles".