China establishes cross-department mechanism to combat personal data abuse

China has established a cross-department mechanism to prevent and fight the abuse and misuse of personal data amid intensified efforts to stamp out crimes against people's privacy, the China Police Daily reported Wednesday.

Stepping up joint efforts in governing cyberspace, the mechanism will promote industry regulation, guide regulated use of people's personal information and improve public awareness of protecting such data, according to the newspaper.

Since 2016, Chinese police had cracked more than 17,000 cases involving crimes on abusing personal information and arrested over 3,000 suspects, the newspaper said.

With the Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China taking the leading role, the mechanism involves the Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and State Administration for Market Regulation among others, it said.