On November 27, 2008, the People s Bank of China (PBC) and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) co-hosted the Press Conference on the Dedicated Campaign to Concertedly Strike Bankcard-Related Crimes. Mr. OUYANG Weimin, Director-General of the Payment System Department of the PBC, and Mr. ZHANG Tao, Deputy Director-General of the Economic Investigation Bureau of the MPS, respectively made introductions and answered questions on the dedicated campaign.
Mr. OUYANG comprehensively introduced the context, major measures and achievements of this campaign, and made some proposals on the work in the next stage. He remarked that, in order to strengthen the risk management of bankcards, provide safe, harmonious and efficient bankcard facilities during the Beijing Olympic Games, the PBC and the MPS have made concerted efforts to crack bankcard-related crimes nationwide. From September 30, 2008 to April 1, 2008, with the guidance and support of the CPC committees and government agencies of all levels and with the coordination of the general public, the branch offices of the PBC, public security agencies at various levels, commercial banks and the China UnionPay have achieved big success in jointly cracking down on bankcard-related crimes. As a result, commercial banks have enhanced their capability of risk management and offence prevention, the general public has improved their knowledge and skill in using bankcards, and the mechanism on joint prevention and control of bankcard-related crimes has preliminarily taken its form. In particular, a number of major and key cases have been cracked within a short time, stifling the rampancy of criminals and safeguarding a Safe Olympics. According to statistics, during the dedicated campaign, the public security organs nationwide have opened 3672 cases on bankcard-related crimes, involving 176 million yuan, and solved 2388 cases, arresting 1420 suspects and recovering economic loss of 61.61 million yuan.
Mr. OUYANG also pointed out that, in order to address the problems of bankcard using in China revealed in the dedicated campaign with better targeting, the PBC would give priority to work in the following aspects: 1. The PBC would urge the commercial banks to improve their measures of risk management and to attach equal importance to the qualitative and quantitative development of bankcards, to provide more fund for risk management technologies and to improve the policy and operation process concerning risk management.
2. The PBC would establish an information-sharing platform on bankcard-related cases, and intensify efforts to crack down on bankcard-related crimes. 3. The PBC would expedite the legislation targeting crimes committed by taking advantage of new ways of payment, such as cashing-out with credit cards, in order to rigorously punish bankcard-related crimes.
4. The PBC would conduct research on the establishment of cross-sectoral long-term mechanism on preventing and controlling bankcard-related crimes.
Mr. Zhang Tao mainly introduced the work done by the economic investigation division in public security organs. He noted that since the beginning of the dedicated campaign, the economic investigation divisions of public security organs at various levels have closely coordinated with the PBC and have achieved remarkable success in cracking bankcard-related cases.
1. The public security organs have investigated and solved a number of major and key cases, and have cracked down on a bunch of criminal gangs. During the campaign, cases opened and solved by the public security organs were respectively 2.4 times and 2.09 times as many as the same period of 2007. 2.
The public security organs cracked down upon a number of bankcard-related criminal gangs involved in bankcard-related crimes, including collusion crimes across the border, e.g., in May, the public security organ in Beijing arrested 2 foreign suspects who withdrew money from ATM with counterfeit bankcards; in July, the public security organ in Liaoning Province intercepted about 400 counterfeit foreign bankcards and arrested 4 suspects.
3. The public security organs at grass-roots level had improved their capability of deterring and controlling bankcard-related crimes. 4. The public security organs have consolidated the cooperation between the public security organs and banks, and have preliminarily established the cooperation mechanisms on early warning, research and judgment, notification of relevant offences and crimes, coordination of case investigation and solution, as well as education on crime prevention.
5. The public security organs promoted the knowledge dissemination on how to use bankcards safely, fostering a favorable social environment.
After the press conference, the PBC and the MPS also commended the teams and individuals that have made outstanding performance during the campaign.
