China Launches One-Year Crackdown on Organized Crime

China has launched a one-year nationwide campaign to deepen its crackdown on organized crime, with authorities pledging to target both traditional criminal gangs and emerging forms of organized crime that predominantly operate online. The initiative was announced at a national video conference on July 31 by Chen Wenqing, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, according to Caixin.

Expanding the Fight Against Organized Crime

The campaign, directed by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, implements General Secretary Xi Jinping’s instructions on anti-organized crime work. Chen directed authorities to “legally eliminate all tumors eroding the social body” and build a “higher-level safe China,” as Xinhua reported.

While maintaining pressure on traditional criminal organizations, the campaign places particular emphasis on two emerging threats: criminal organizations that exploit online platforms, and those employing “soft violence” — organized acts of harassment, persistent pestering, and public disturbance that exert psychological coercion on victims. China Daily noted that “soft violence” often refers to organized, non-physical means of oppression, including stalking, verbal intimidation, and nuisance-making aimed at forcing compliance through fear and disruption.

Chen also stressed the importance of dismantling the “protective umbrellas” — corrupt officials who shield criminal networks — calling for stronger coordination between disciplinary and judicial efforts and a resolve to “turn the blade inward” in self-supervision.

A Legal Framework for Enforcement

The campaign emphasizes strict adherence to law, with Chen insisting on “seeking truth from facts” to ensure that no genuine case of organized crime is overlooked while avoiding the misidentification of non-criminal matters. This legal safeguard builds on the Anti-Organized Crime Law, which took effect in May 2022 and provides China’s first comprehensive legal framework specifically targeting organized crime.

Chen affirmed progress made in the national crackdown since the 20th CPC National Congress in 2022, while stressing the need to better understand the evolving forms and characteristics of organized crime under new circumstances. He called for maintaining a high-pressure posture of deterrence and striking with full force to address problems that have drawn strong public resentment, according to Guancha.

Historical Context

The new campaign builds on a decade of escalating anti-organized crime efforts. From 2018 to 2020, a three-year nationwide special campaign dismantled 3,644 mafia-type organizations — 1.3 times the total of the previous decade — busted 11,675 criminal gangs, and arrested 237,000 criminal suspects. After that campaign concluded, “promoting the normalization of anti-organized crime” was written into the 14th Five-Year Plan and the 2035 Vision Goals outline.

The campaign also follows high-profile crackdowns on cross-border crime syndicates. In January 2026, China executed 11 members of the Ming family crime group from Myanmar, which had operated industrial-scale online scams, kidnapping, and murder operations that defrauded victims of more than $1.44 billion.

Implications and Outlook

The one-year campaign signals Beijing’s recognition that organized crime has evolved in the digital age, moving beyond traditional territorial control to exploit online platforms and psychological coercion. The explicit focus on “protective umbrellas” ties the campaign to China’s broader anti-corruption drive, suggesting that authorities view corruption and organized crime as intertwined challenges.

The emphasis on legal safeguards — ensuring no innocent person is wrongly included in enforcement actions — reflects awareness of past concerns about overreach in campaign-style policing. As the campaign unfolds over the coming year, observers will watch how authorities balance aggressive enforcement with legal protections, and whether the focus on online crime yields tangible results in dismantling digital-era criminal networks.

With the campaign set to run through mid-2027, China’s approach to organized crime will remain a key indicator of its broader governance strategy — one that increasingly blends traditional law enforcement with digital-era tactics and anti-corruption measures.