BEIJING, May 27 -- The number of criminal cases filed by Chinese police in 2023 dropped by 12.9 percent from 2019, according to the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) on Monday.

Police across the country also handled 9.7 percent fewer public security cases last year compared to 2019, the ministry said at a press conference.

Over the past five years, Chinese police busted over 5,200 criminal gangs and captured more than 1,600 fugitives overseas linked to criminal gangs, making headway in the campaign to combat organized crime and root out local bullies, according to the ministry.

Nearly 400,000 economic criminal cases were cracked by the police in the period, with over 230 billion yuan (32.35 billion U.S. dollars) of direct economic losses recovered, the ministry said.

Consistent efforts were also put into cleaning and preserving cyberspace, as public security organs investigated 453,000 cybercrime cases in five years, according to the MPS.