China has stepped up cooperation with the international community in fighting money laundering and has established cooperative relations with some 40 countries in this regard, the Ministry of Public Security said Thursday.

Since 1989, China has ratified a number of UN conventions and treaties concerning crime prevention and has launched campaigns at home to crack down on related crimes such as the illegal financing of terrorist activities, according to the foreign affairs bureau of the ministry.

China has signed 70 agreements and memorandums with dozens of countries and police forces around the world. While agreeing to the deployment of foreign police officers in China, the country also sent seven liaison officers to five countries, including the United States, Turkey and Thailand.

Over the past two years, the ministry has offered investigative assistance at the request of 20 foreign police forces. In September 2001, the valuable assistance of the Chinese police brought about the prosecution of 40 suspects involved in a huge money laundering case.

The ministry set up the department responsible for combating money laundering in April 2002 and sent police force staff to France, Russia, Indonesia and Hong Kong to participate in international law enforcement meetings and to gain experience, according to officials with the economic crimes bureau of the ministry.

Recently, the police in the southern provinces of Guangdong and Fujian stormed 32 illegal "money shops," arresting 90 people and seizing money and property worth a total of 30 million yuan (US$3.6 million), the bureau officials said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2003)