China's nationwide anti-smuggling campaign has yielded impressive results since it's launch in 1998. This is the message delivered by officials from the General Administration of Customs and other law enforcement departments, said CCTV on Tuesday.
Officials told the press that the crackdown on smuggling has effectively curbed illegal trade, promoting sharp growth of legal trade and significantly increasing customs tariffs.
From 1998 to 2002 Chinese customs handled nearly 56,000 smuggling cases, involving goods with a total value of 5 billion US dollars. Customs anti-smuggling police have also detained thousands of suspects.
But the situation is still serious as criminals employ new tactics, such as cutting prices. Drug smuggling and Intellectual Property Rights infringement cases are on the rise as well. The government is taking steps to meet the challenge.
Sheng Guangzu, deputy director of General Administration of Customs, said, "Our government has put great emphasis on cracking down on weapons and drug smuggling cases, which are great dangers to national security. In recent years, we've also stepped up measures to fight against IPR violations. Every year, customs will launch campaigns against pirated and smuggled CDs."
Oil products have also been a major focus, with intensive anti-smuggling operations restoring trade to normal.
The public can see a record of the anti-smuggling campaign at exhibitions due to start November 10. It will be on show in Beijing, Nanjing and Shenzhen.
(CCTV.com October 27, 2004))
