BEIJING, Sept. 29 -- A new round of crackdowns on the illegal production and sale of drugs has begun in 108 cities across China, the Ministry of Public Security said on Monday.

The six-month campaign will target drug production, trafficking and selling. They'll increase their scope to drug dealing through the Internet and drug users, the ministry said in a statement.

China faces severe challenges in fighting against drug-related crimes, despite effective results achieved by international cooperation among China, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, the ministry said.

"High-handed policy should be always adopted to harshly crack down on drug-related crimes," said minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun.

He urges more pragmatic international cooperation.

The ministry will supervise the nationwide crackdown and people in charge of the campaign will be held responsible if they are found ignoring their duty, according to the statement.

Chinese police arrested 58,000 people, confiscated 25,850 kilograms of drugs and busted more than 1,600 drug producing and selling rings in the first half of the year.