A nationwide campaign has broken up 249 internet-based gambling rings and arrested more than 760 suspects since being launched in January.

Police in the capital have broken up eight online rings, including one with stakes reaching a total of 235 million yuan (US$28 million) and involving suspects Jia Dong and Yang Yi.

Police in north China's Hebei Province have arrested Liu Wenqing, Xu Yang and Huang Jian, agents for overseas-based gambling websites in China, who arranged Internet gambling  with monthly transactions of more than 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million).

Police in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and northeast China's Jilin Province have both arrested agents for overseas websites and confiscated computers for gambling.

Police in Guangzhou have confiscated 1.01 million yuan (US$120,000) from gamblers.

The crackdown has targeted senior officials and executives at state-owned companies as part of a larger fight against widespread corruption.

(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2005)