Police in Hubei Province have cracked 13,461 cases of economic crimes and retrieved 2.58 billion yuan (311.7 million US dollars) in economic losses since 2000, sources with a provincial meeting on economic crimes said Friday.

The police have detained 12,763 suspects involved in the cases,which mainly included counterfeiting of financial reports, value added invoices, certificates, embezzlement of public funds, tax evasion, manufacturing and selling of counterfeit auto parts, and illegal operation of securities businesses.

According to an official with the provincial public security bureau, about 3,500 cases of economic crimes are cracked in the province a year, with the value involved rising to 2.456 billion yuan (296 million US dollars) in 2003 from 1.635 billion yuan (197million US dollars) in 1995.

The official said that the province would continue its efforts to strike hard on economic crimes to safeguard social stability and sound economic development.

Source:Xinhua