A total of 52,835 people had been arrested on suspicion of being involved in mafia-style crimes since early 2006 when China launched a nationwide campaign to fight the crimes of the kind, a leading Chinese prosecutor said.

Of the total, 51,639 have been prosecuted, said Yang Zhenjiang, a member on the prosecuting committee of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, while addressing a two-day symposium held in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on mafia-style crimes and legal control.

An upward of 256 former officials have been placed under investigation for assisting and protecting gang members, according to Zhang.

Wang Xiuhong, a member of the trial committee of Supreme People's Court, who also attended the symposium, said Wednesday that China's judicial organs would continue to clamp down on mafia-style or organized crimes to protect the people and maintain social stability.

"Gang crimes are posing serious threat to the society. Curbing gang crimes will always be one of our highest priorities," said Wang.

Chongqing is China's forerunner in cracking down on gang crimes. In 2009, the city's police detained 3,348 people for gang crimes, of whom, 512 have been prosecuted. And 383 of the prosecuted have been convicted of gang crimes.