China to Strengthen Cooperation in Organized Crime CrackdownChina is willing to enhance cooperation with all other countries and international organizations in fighting against cross-border organized crime, Chinese Minister of Justice Gao Changli was quoted as saying on April 14.Addressing the 10th UN congress on crime prevention and offenders treatment, Gao said that since the situation on cross-border organized crime has grown increasingly serious, "we could not be successful in coping with this challenge without thorough international cooperation." Gao, who led the Chinese delegation to the congress, said the international community, including the UN and all member states, must further examine the state of cross-border organized crime and take effective preventive steps against such crime in various forms. Speaking on China's measures against organized crime, Gao said, China has a sound domestic legal system, which constitutes the basis for fruitful international cooperation. China's Criminal Law, revised in 1997 to define the organization of and participation in organized crime and money-laundering as criminal acts, has become more biting, Gao said. China established special agencies responsible for the control and prevention of organized crime in the early 1990s, he said. In recent years, the Chinese law enforcement agencies intensified their campaigns against criminal groups of Mafia nature involved in smuggling and economic crimes. China has signed with 31 countries 33 bilateral agreements on legal cooperation. "We have also signed extradition treaties with 11 countries and acceded to over 20 multilateral conventions relating to or including articles on mutual legal assistance," he said. State leaders, ministers and representatives of over 150 countries, and representatives from UN and other international institutions and non-governmental organizations are participating in the eight-day meeting, which started on April 10. |
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