Drugs collected by the Beijing police is ready to be destroyed at a public education event in June Photo: Beijing public security bureau.

China's narcotics control chief called for increased efforts to crack down on drug-related crimes, while stressing that this year's anti-drug work is tasked to create harmonious and stable social environment for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

State Councilor Zhao Kezhi, also chief of the national narcotics control commission, made the directions during a teleconference with anti-drug authorities across the country on Wednesday, during which he also urged resolutely curbing the infiltration of drugs from overseas, strengthening international law-enforcement cooperation and preventing the spread of new types of drugs, according to the commission website.

It is necessary, Zhao noted, to be fully informed about the situation of drug users, strengthen the work of reception, treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts and eliminate the risks of drug use to the maximum extent.  

During the conference, Zhao also urged police to push forward the anti-drug battle in order to create a harmonious and stable social environment for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC.

Following the national teleconference, political and legal affairs authorities in South China's Hainan Province vowed Thursday that the province would achieve the goal of reducing the number of drug users in the province to lower than 0.4 percent of the total provincial population.

The island officials also called for intensified and effective management of entertainment venues.

More than 705 kilograms of drugs including heroin and methamphetamine were captured and 223 suspects arrested in a case in Hunan Province, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday. 

Police severed a drug trafficking supply chain by which suspects smuggled drugs from abroad to Southwest China's Yunnan Province before widespread distribution to regions including Central China's Hunan and North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to Xinhua.

More than 300 sessions of drug use-prevention education have been carried out in schools and residential communities in Beijing so far this year, "a main venue city for the anniversary celebration." 

The figure was up 20 percent year-on-year, Shi Jianchun, vice deputy director of the volunteers of Beijing narcotics control association, told the Global Times. 

The growth reflected the fact that more people from all walks of life in society were willing to participate in anti-drug efforts, which is a necessary addition to public security department efforts, and that demand for drug use-prevention education was also on the rise, Shi noted. Together they contributed to the decline in drug users in China, he said.

The number of Chinese drug users was 0.18 percent of the population in 2018, a drop for the first time in history, according to a report released on June 17 by the commission. 

The General Administration of Customs revealed in June that Chinese customs cracked 604 drug smuggling cases in 2018, seizing 37.5 tons of drugs and precursor chemicals, representing a three-year consecutive drop in the number of drug cases. 

In June, Chinese police in Wuhan, Hubei teamed up with Myanmar police to crack a large drug trafficking ring which had disguised drugs including heroin and crystal meth as "tea bricks" and smuggled them from Myanmar to Hubei via the border province of Yunnan, with over 100 people arrested and 267 kilograms of drugs seized, Xinhua reported.