Beijing has decided to raise the reward for whistleblowers of
illegal firecracker production, with the traditional Chinese Spring
Festival less than one month away.
The Beijing municipal government will quadruple the maximum
premium for each person who discloses the production and sale of
illegal firecrackers, raising the reward from 5,000 yuan (688 U.S.
dollars) to 20,000 yuan.
The government also promised a "special reward" for those who
provide information that leads to an important discovery, without
elaborating.
"The scale of the illegal firecracker business has expanded in
line with the increasing demand of fireworks with the Spring
Festival around the corner," said an official with the city's
Firework Safety Administration Office.
A reward of 280,000 yuan has been granted to reporters since
last Spring Festival and a total of 106 people involved in 95 cases
have been arrested, according to local government.
Beijing tightened control over illegal firecracker production
this year by launching a crackdown on substandard firecracker
workshops throughout the city.
Checkpoints have been set up at entrances of every major
highways into Beijing to cut the supply of illegal firecrackers,
the official said.
The officer also said firecracker watchdogs will keep a close
eye on the online black markets, which have emerged recently.
The three major fireworks companies in Beijing joined hands to
fight against fake firecrackers by cutting prices and setting up a
special fund for the crackdown on illegal firework production.
Fireworks are part of traditional celebrations marking the
Chinese Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, which
falls on Feb. 7 this year.
China accounts for about 75 percent of the world's total annual
firecracker production.
(Xinhua News Agency January 9, 2008)