Battle against guns, explosives continues

China will continue its campaign against crimes involving guns and explosives, with the next stage focusing on crimes such as smuggling, illegal production and trafficking, and online sales, the top public security authority said.

State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi called on Tuesday for efforts to curb criminal activities involving guns and explosives, and to intensify supervision and rectification of prominent problems.

All related departments should strengthen coordination when dealing with cases involving cross-regional evidence, quickly respond to and investigate such cases and dig deeply into evidence to ensure that every case is thoroughly investigated and resolved with high quality and efficiency, he told a meeting on Tuesday.

A three-year campaign to bust such crimes was launched in May.

Police have resolved about 24,000 cases involving guns and explosives and arrested about 24,000 people since the campaign was launched. The number of gun cases fell by 4.3 percent year-on-year last year and the number of explosives cases was down by 36.1 percent, according to the ministry.

Zhao said investigators must track the source of guns and explosives and seize them to eliminate risks endangering public security and social stability. In addition, authorities must track down all those involved and bring them to justice to resolutely destroy criminal networks.

He also called for the strengthening of international law enforcement cooperation on smuggling and for sound measures to crack down on online sales and break distribution channels.

Authorities in key areas should intensify efforts to analyze and solve social problems to prevent cases of extreme violence, he said.

Authorities should also strengthen oversight of e-commerce platforms and cross-border logistics and urge logistics enterprises to strictly implement real-name delivery procedures and inspect packages before mailing.

They will strengthen safety supervision and management of fireworks at wholesale and retail outlets. In addition, online inspections will be enhanced to promptly clean up illegal information such as selling firearms and explosive materials and spreading firearms and explosive production techniques, and internet enterprises with serious problems will be penalized.

Public security organs will also work with other departments to carry out a 100-day operation to check and collect illegal firearms and explosives.