BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- China's public security organs have helped facilitate the nation's high-quality development by resolutely safeguarding public safety during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), a senior Chinese public security official said on Wednesday.

"China is widely recognized as one of the safest countries in the world," Qi Yanjun, vice minister of public security, said at a press conference on public security during the 2021-2025 period.

"China has maintained one of the lowest incidence rates of fatal criminal cases, the lowest rate of criminal offenses, and the fewest cases involving firearms and explosives in the world," Qi noted.

WORLD'S SAFEST COUNTRY

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, public security authorities have focused on safeguarding the safety and well-being of the public, continuously intensifying efforts to combat criminal offenses, leading to a steady decline in the overall number of criminal cases nationwide, senior police officer Jiang Guoli said at the press conference.

China has consistently ranked among the countries with the lowest homicide rates globally, with a rate of 0.44 per 100,000 people in 2024, said Jiang, who is the political commissar of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) criminal investigation bureau.

China has maintained a hard stance on gang-related crime. Chinese police have dismantled over 590 mafia-style organizations and over 8,900 other criminal gangs to date during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, according to Jiang.

More than 105,000 gang-related criminal cases have been solved nationwide since 2021, he said, stressing that law enforcement agencies have maintained a zero-tolerance policy on organized crime -- particularly for complex, high-profile cases.

He noted that law enforcement authorities have also focused on the root causes of organized crime, utilizing long-term crime prevention and social governance mechanisms.

"By disrupting the cycle in which disorder fosters crime and crime evolves into organized gangs, authorities aim to eliminate the conditions that allow such groups to thrive," Jiang said.

In the field of transportation, the number of major traffic accidents resulting in three or more deaths during the 14th Five-Year Plan period declined significantly -- 34 percent -- compared to the 2016-2020 period, Qi said.

He highlighted that public security organs across the country have since 2021 intensified their identification and rectification of safety loopholes in sectors such as road traffic, railways and civil aviation, aiming to protect the people's safety and property to the greatest possible extent.

TELECOM FRAUD CRACKDOWNS

China launched harsh crackdowns on telecom and online fraud during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, effectively protecting the people's lawful interests.

Chinese police resolved 1.739 million such cases and arrested 366,000 related individuals, including 3,442 major financiers and core members of criminal groups, Jiang said.

Police and relevant government departments intercepted 12.41 billion scam calls and 10.93 billion fraudulent text messages over the past five years, he noted.

He said that during the same period, Chinese police deepened law enforcement cooperation with their international counterparts, dispatching work groups to countries such as Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia to boost joint operations targeting telecom fraud.

"These efforts led to the dismantling of over 2,000 overseas fraud centers and the capture of more than 80,000 individuals," he added.

ENHANCING AUTONOMOUS DRIVING REGULATION

Responding to a question on autonomous driving, Wang Qiang, director of the MPS traffic management bureau, said that China will tighten its regulation and management of intelligent driving, as the intelligent driving systems currently installed in vehicles have not yet achieved true autonomous driving.

"The driver remains the ultimate party responsible for operating the vehicle," Wang said.

He stressed that if a driver takes their hands off the wheel or their eyes off the road while the vehicle is in motion, they pose a serious risk to traffic safety and their actions could result in civil liability, administrative penalties and criminal prosecution.

To strengthen the regulation and management of intelligent driving, police will support the refining of laws and regulations to clarify manual control in vehicle autonomy from Level 0, which indicates no driving automation, to Level 2, which indicates partial driving automation, Wang said.

China will also encourage vehicle manufacturers to continuously improve the reliability of assisted driving systems, and to establish relevant safety technology standards, he added.