China is now one of the safest countries in the world, with a homicide rate of 0.81 cases per 100,000 people in 2017, according to a work conference held by the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Jan. 22 and 23.

The number of serious violent crimes in the country fell by 51.8% last year, with a 43.8% drop in major road traffic accidents, according to the conference.

People’s satisfaction with public security rose to 95.55% from 87.55% in 2012, and satisfaction with political and legal departments increased to 80.24% from 69.43%.

Apart from its rapid economic development, Chinese politicians and foreign experts both believe that social stability is another major achievement of China, reflecting the superiority of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Thanks to the broad promotion of judicial reform in the past five years, China has greatly improved its judicial quality, efficiency, and credibility. Case handling, caseload per capita, and the case closure rate all increased by 20% over the last year.

In the past five years, 25,000 people involved in duty-related crimes have been handled, and nearly 100,000 individuals have been punished for petty corruption. In addition, 221 corrupted fugitives have been repatriated from overseas.

Financial crime is among the most prominent risks in China, the conference noted. In the past five years, related departments have cracked over 60,000 financial crimes, recovering an economic loss of 2 trillion RMB. Further measures will be taken to crack down on illegal fundraising activities, online pyramid sales, and insider trading, the conference said.