Ministry: Crackdown on gun, explosive crimes fruitful

China's special crackdown on gun and explosive crimes has yielded fruitful results since it was launched in February 2018, the Ministry of Public Security announced on Tuesday.

Chinese police have solved more than 37,000 cases involving guns and explosives, busted 416 gangs and 599 criminal dens, and arrested 43,000 suspects. More than 146,000 illegal guns, as well as a large quantity of dynamite and detonators, have been confiscated, said Li Jingsheng, director of the security administration at the ministry.

The number of crimes involving guns and explosives between January and November 2018 has continued to decline, dropping by 27.6 percent and 29 percent respectively year-on-year, making China "one of the safest countries in the world", he said.

The campaign, lasting until this December, was launched by the ministry and 23 other departments last February, aiming to further curb production, smuggling and online sales of guns and explosives.

The authorities have also examined online and physical enterprises and other individual manufacturers that produce or sell hazardous chemicals, mine explosives and fireworks, and have formulated industry standards to better regulate them.

Guo Lin, the spokeswoman for the ministry, said this campaign has been elevated to a national level with participation by more departments, compared to some previous campaigns which were usually organized by one department. The collaboration has made the crackdown more effective and efficient, she added.