Social security has continued to improve in Guangdong capital since the start of the year
with a double-digit drop in the number of criminal cases
recorded.
Guangzhou, an economic powerhouse in south China, had 65,129
cases registered from January to October, a drop of 15.2 percent
from comparable statistics for the same period last year, according
to Zhang Guifang, deputy secretary of the Guangzhou City Committee
of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Zhang, also secretary of the politics and law committee for
Guangzhou, said during the January-October period, cases of robbery
and theft of motor vehicles in the city plunged more than 30
percent and 39 percent, respectively.
Guangdong, which borders both Hong Kong and Macao, has benefited
most economically from China's reform and opening-up drive over the
past three decades. The economic boom, however, has turned many of
the province's cities in this southern region into havens for
crime.
Incidents of crime in Guangzhou, for instance, experienced a
steady rise until 2006 when the city reported its first ever drop
in crime cases with fewer than 100,000 cases reported.
While expressing confidence that the number of cases would be
fewer than 80,000 this year, Zhang urged greater efforts be made in
the future to make sure crime continue to decline by at least 10
percent annually. He wanted to see the number of cases at less than
60,000 by 2010 when Guangzhou hosts the 16th Asian Games.
"We must work harder to create a safe and healthy social
environment in Guangzhou for holding the Asian Games."
(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2007)