Online crime continues to rise in China

BEIJING - A total of 710 people were charged with online crimes in the first nine months of 2017, up 80.7 percent year on year, China's Supreme People's Procuratorate said Monday.

The procuratorate indicted 334 cases in the same period, an increase of 82.5 percent year on year, according to procuratorate spokesperson Wang Songmiao.

"Cyber crimes are increasingly organized and operated in groups, especially cyber gambling and fraud," Wang said.

"We have seen more and more forms of cyber crime, including cyber attacks, cyber fraud, cyber pornography, cyber gambling and so on. And crimes of infringement of personal information, online rumor-spreading, cyber blackmail, cyber terrorism and selling drugs online keep rising," Wang said.

Wang said the number of cyber crimes, including cross-border cybercrimes, would keep rising in the foreseeable future.

National prosecution authorities are looking at how to increase control and manage online crime.