Chinese police will begin a special four-month campaign to crack down on the production and use of counterfeit automobile license plates on Thursday.

Police around the country will target trade in fake license plates, registration papers and other license plate-related crime, the Ministry of Public Security said Wednesday in a statement on its website.

Violators sometimes forge license plates for military and government vehicles to enjoy privileges like free expressway charges.

Some drivers use stickers to cover their license plates to cheat police.

The campaign will begin June 10 and finish Oct. 10.

Police carried out similar campaigns during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the National Day holidays in 2009 to create better traffic conditions.

Statistics with the ministry show police nationwide seized about 267,000 counterfeit license plates in the 2008 campaign and 183,000 fake plates in the 2009 campaign.