BEIJING — The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said on Nov 6 that departments for handling reports of illegal and harmful online information across the country dealt with more than 15 million tip-offs in October, up 7.7 percent from the previous month.

The figure was up 54.5 percent from the same period last year, according to the CAC's center for handling reports of illegal and harmful information.

Also in October, the CAC center received about 190,000 leads, up 22.4 percent year-on-year, while local government reporting centers received about 1.1 million leads, down 18.9 percent from the same month last year.

Moreover, about 14 million tip-offs were handled by China's major websites, up 11 percent from the previous month, the center said, adding that 78.6 percent of them were handled by leading commercial websites such as Sina Weibo, Baidu and Tencent.

The public is encouraged to report illegal and harmful online activities via the CAC's tip-off center hotline and mobile app.