Chinese Police Is Cracking Down on Financial Crime

China Issues New, Hard-to-forge Yuan Notes
SHANGHAI, CHINA - AUGUST 31: (CHINA OUT) A Chinese man displays new issued yuan notes at a bank on August 31, 2005 in Shanghai, China. Authorities issued new yuan notes today that largely resemble bills in circulation but with new marks meant to foil currency counterfeiters. New 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 yuan notes, as well as a 1 jiao coin (10 Chinese cents), were available from the People's Bank of China. The design of the new bills, bearing a portrait of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong, remains the same as the last-issued 1999 series but incorporate new watermarks and other minor changes that will make it harder to duplicate, according to state media. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)
China Photos/Getty Images/File

China‘s police body has set up five specialist units to deal with financial crime, including securities fraud, which is becoming increasingly professionalized, the official Xinhua news agency reported late on Tuesday.

The new units, jointly set up by the Ministry of Public Security and the China Securities Regulator Commission (CSRC), will be based in northeast China‘s Liaoning province as well as the cities of Shanghai, Chongqing and Qingdao and Shenzhen, Xinhua said. They will investigate and research securities and tax fraud cases and also provide specialist training.

The Ministry of Public Security and the CSRC have been holding joint training sessions to combat financial crime after “irregularities” in the country’s stock markets last year, Xinhua said.

Authorities blamed last year’s stock market crash on market manipulation, and the CSRC has come under increasing scrutiny. Earlier this year, China‘s corruption watchdog accused the securities regulator of allowing the families of its officials to trade in stocks, which is illegal.

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CSRC has also been cracking down on illegal margin financing, or the use of borrowed money to bet on stocks, which is believed to be a major driver of the stock market bubble last year.