File Photo: Xinhua

 
China is currently recognized as one of the most secure countries in the world, the Ministry of Public Security said on Wednesday.

Li Guozhong, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security, said the number of criminal cases nationwide dropped 6.2 percent in the first eight months of the year, while public security cases dropped 12.4 percent year-on-year.

Road traffic accidents saw a 21.6 percent decline over the past eight months and the number of traffic deaths decreased by 34.6 percent.

The public security organs will crack down on crimes involving cultural relics, telecommunications network fraud, and will launch more specific campaigns to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the people.

China's Ministry of Public Security in late July announced it had cracked down on a transnational internet pyramid scheme involving transactions of digital currencies such as bitcoin. It was the first known scheme of its kind and involved over 40 billion yuan ($5.73 billion) in digital currencies. Authorities have detailed 27 key suspects and a further 82 involved in the case. 

Violent crime has fallen partly because of the stay-at-home policy across China amid the COVID-19 epidemic, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said in July.

The news that China is one of the most secure countries in the world gathered wide recognition and applause across social media on Wednesday as many compared their travel experience with serious security worries overseas, especially in the US and some EU countries.

Many large US cities released criminals from jail amid the COVID-19 pandemic, raising wide concerns that it may bring a spike in crime.

Netizens suggested that it is hard to make the most populous country in the world the most secure as well.

“But frequent traffic accidents, especially severe ones in recent months, remain a concern for the public,” said a Sina Weibo user. “There is still a long way to go in improving China’s legal system.”

Global Times