Organized crime

A three-year campaign against organized crime has seen 3,600 mafia-style gang cases and 11,600 other cases solved, with assets of more than 450 billion yuan ($69.6 billion) seized.

Police also launched an operation to target more than 5,824 fugitives involved in organized crime. According to the ministry, all of the 5,328 targeted fugitives in China have been captured, while 440 out of the 496 overseas fugitives have been brought back home as of the end of December.

A total of 1,759 criminal gangs using information networks and telephone systems to commit fraud were also busted.

Liu Zhongyi, director of the ministry's Criminal Investigation Bureau, said fraudsters use virtual identities to communicate and form criminal gangs.

Because the fraud is committed by a variety of people working from different locations, they are harder to trace than traditional gang members and can inflict more financial and social damage on their victims.

Students seeking easy loans are particularly vulnerable to dubious loan contracts with changing interest rates.

By cooperating with education and cyberspace authorities, the ministry has established a national monitoring and warning platform for suspect lending cases.

As of last month, the number of suspected online false lending operators had dropped 86 percent from its peak in 2019, the ministry said.

Over 3,490 suspects were arrested for online and offline fraudulent lending related to organized crime.