BEIJING, March 8 -- Chinese police have busted more than 440 gangs involved in robbery, fraud and theft and arrested 2,390 suspects in a national crackdown on such crimes, the Ministry of Public Security said Saturday.

The police launched the clampdown nationwide last December and cracked 12,300 such cases with a total value reaching 340 million yuan (55.5 million U.S. dollars), the ministry said in a statement.

Crimes of robbery, fraud and theft are on the rise in China, said the ministry, adding police in southwest China's Guizhou Province have nabbed an online fraud ring accused of swindling more than 6000 people, with a total value of about 20 million yuan.

The police will continue harshly fighting such crimes to safeguard immediate interests of the public, according to the statement.