Chinese authorities have dismantled a massive network of illegal financial operations totaling approximately 30 billion yuan ($4.27 billion) during a comprehensive six-month nationwide campaign. The joint operation between the Ministry of Public Security and the National Financial Regulatory Administration targeted 17 key provinces and municipalities from June to November 2025, representing one of the most significant crackdowns on financial misconduct in recent years.
The specialized campaign resulted in the investigation of over 1,500 cases through nearly 60 coordinated raids, effectively dismantling more than 200 professional criminal organizations. According to official data released Thursday, the operation specifically addressed the growing threat of sophisticated financial ‘black and gray industries’ that have evolved into highly organized criminal enterprises.
Hua Liebing, Director of the Ministry’s Economic Crime Investigation Bureau, revealed that these illicit operations have developed into full-fledged industrial chains encompassing false advertising, customized deception scripts, forged documentation, and specialized agency negotiations. The criminal networks have attracted highly qualified professionals, including lawyers and debt collection agency employees, who leverage their legal expertise to create ‘anti-debt collection’ teams for substantial profit.
The technological sophistication of these operations presents particular challenges for enforcement agencies. Criminals increasingly employ artificial intelligence tools and complex internet technologies to create multilayered, nested products that complicate identity verification and detection processes. Additionally, these operations demonstrate growing internationalization trends, with criminals exploiting legal loopholes and disguising illegal purposes as legitimate financial activities.
A representative case from Qingdao, Shandong province, involved a loan fraud scheme masterminded by suspect Wang and accomplices. Since 2020, the group developed a network of over 10 second-tier intermediaries recruiting locals to carry debt. Through forged bank statements, property deeds, and work certificates, they qualified debt carriers for high-value mortgages while colluding with appraisal firms to inflate property values and bribing bank staff to secure fraudulent loan approvals—defrauding over 120 million yuan in housing loans.
Xing Guijun, Director of the NFRA’s Investigation Bureau, emphasized that these industries have evolved into ‘high-tech, large-scale, intelligent and industrialized fraud’ that outpaces traditional risk control measures. Effective governance requires strengthened law enforcement and judicial coordination, with financial institutions assuming primary responsibility for comprehensive risk management.
The regulatory collaboration has already yielded significant results. Since March 2025, when the NFRA and Ministry of Public Security established formal case transfer regulations, authorities have processed over 4,500 financial crime leads involving 21 billion yuan. Financial institutions, under official guidance, have independently reported 1,700 cases involving 17 billion yuan.
Looking toward 2026, the NFRA plans intensified crackdowns on key illegal financial activities, particularly targeting unlawful loan intermediaries and agency services. Authorities will enhance cross-departmental cooperation with market regulators and judicial bodies, develop standardized evidence transfer protocols, and conduct joint research to advance legislative recommendations for financial crime regulation.