The number of criminal cases in the country dropped slightly last year after having risen for two consecutive years previously.

Police handled about 4.64 million criminal cases last year, down 1.5 percent from the previous year, according to figures released by the Ministry of Public Security yesterday.

It is the first decline since 2002, when 4.33 million criminal cases were recorded, ministry spokesman Wu Heping said.

4.39 million cases were reported in 2003, and 4.71 million in 2004.

Violent crimes including arson, murder, rape and kidnapping saw a sharp drop of 14.8 percent.

This has led to a 1 percent rise in confidence in public security, according to a survey released last week by the National Bureau of Statistics.

About 92 percent of 104,107 respondents from 967 cities and counties nationwide said they feel relatively safe, compared to 91 percent in the preceding two years.

However, Li Yong, a senior columnist with Beijing News, told China Daily that the number of reported criminal cases should not be the only gauge of a sense of public security.

"The social environment including employment, education, medical care and food safety should be taken into account as well," he said.

Violent crime and public disorder are listed as two major indices affecting the sense of public security, the survey shows.

Railway stations, long-distance bus stations and passenger docks were rated as the most dangerous places.

Ministry figures also show economic crimes were on a steady rise last year, reaching 72,000 compared to 68,000 in 2004.

Cases involving copyright violations almost doubled over the previous year, which "directly caused the rise of overall economic crimes," Wu said.

Also noticeable is the high incidence of theft and robbery, which accounts for 80 percent of the total criminal cases. "Although numbers have dropped slightly from the previous year, they remain a concern," Wu said.

The ministry warned that thefts and robberies inside or near banks rose rapidly, where victims were mostly women and elderly people.

(China Daily January 20, 2006)