A senior police officer yesterday promised to step up the fight on economic crimes, which are currently rampant in this southern Chinese province.

Li Shanxiong, deputy director of the economic criminal investigation department under the Guangdong provincial bureau of public security, said at a press conference in Guangzhou that authorities will run a month-long campaign starting today.

Its aim is to crack down on a range of illegal activities including investments in overseas gold, funds and stock markets; the production and trafficking of fake banknotes; pyramid sales schemes; fake contract swindles; and illicit fundraising, Li said.

He said Guangdong police were committed to stamping out such crimes to protect the economy of Guangdong, which borders the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

"With the province's rapid development, economic crimes have become more common in Guangdong in recent years, affecting the province's economic operations and people's daily lives," Li said.

He said the campaign had been launched in response to figures showing police across the province had investigated more than 3,300 economic criminal cases in the first half of the year, with a combined value of more than 3.7 billion yuan (US$490 million).

Of the total number of cases, 2,100 have so far been tackled, with more than 2,300 suspects being detained or arrested, Li said.

(China Daily August 1, 2007)