China registers progress in crackdown on cultural relic crimes

BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- A three-year campaign against cultural relics-related crimes has yielded marked progress, with Chinese police having solved more than 800 such criminal cases, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced Friday.

The campaign was launched last year jointly by the MPS and the National Cultural Heritage Administration, with a focus on crimes involving looting ancient cultural sites and tombs, theft of stone carvings and underwater cultural relics, and theft and damage of revolutionary cultural relics.

During the campaign, police closely monitored the underground cultural relic markets and online trading platforms, the MPS said.

Over 13,000 pieces of cultural relics were recovered, among which 2,189 were deemed rare, according to the MPS.

A number of suspects involved in the criminal activities were caught, it added.