A total of 361 police officers have died at work in 2017, with an average age of 43.5, the Ministry of Public Security announced on Wednesday.

There were also 126 auxiliary police officers who died during work in 2017. A total of 6,234 police were injured or disabled while on duty in the same period.

The ministry published the casualties the day before Qingming Festival, or Tomb-sweeping Day. It said that 2,003 police officers sacrificed their lives during the last five years between 2013 and 17, and the total number since China's reform and opening-up four decades ago reached 13,000.

The ministry has thus vowed to improve the safety of police and strengthen their authority and punish those who provoke or insult dead police online. In 2017 alone, more than 13,000 cases of assaulting on-duty police were filed and 18,000 individuals were punished, correcting the name of and compensating 16,000 police officers.

Fatigue is a major factor of police death. Among the 361 deaths of police in 2017, 246 died suddenly while on duty, as a result of overwork and stress, the ministry said. There were another 1,820 police who died of occupational diseases that developed through hard work.

The ministry in 2017 published a set of regulations aimed at alleviating pressure on front-line police officers, including more clearly defining range of duty and reinforcing the teamwork of police.

In January 2018, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Education jointly published a notice to provide favorable education policies to the children of martyred police officers.