China breaks more than 1300 crime gangs

BEIJING, Nov 24: A Chinese campaign against organised crime has netted more than 1,300 gangs, several of which had been protected by government officials, state media said today.

Thirty-three cases of ''umbrellas'' protecting gangs had been uncovered, involving 47 officials, the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Huang Hailong, an official at the Supreme People's Procuratorate, as saying.

The gangs were protected through bribery or threats, the report said.

Among them was a 17-member gang that used children to steal for them, the Beijing News reported.

China is in the middle of a crackdown on official corruption, which the ruling Communist Party has warned is so widespread it could threaten its credibility.

The financial capital of Shanghai has been swarming with investigators who are probing a graft case involving government pension funds in a scandal that led to the dismissal of the city's Communist Party boss, Chen Liangyu.

REUTERS