An inauguration ceremony of China's first control center on new types of telecom-based and cyber crimes is held in Beijing, September 20, 2016. [Photo: cnr.cn]

The Ministry of Public Security in Beijing has set up China's first control center for combating telecom-based fraud and cyber crimes, CNR news reported on Tuesday.

The establishment of the center comes amid the surging number of telecom fraud cases in China in recent years, which pose a great threat to social stability and to people's property and rights.

An inauguration ceremony for the center was held at the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau on Tuesday, September 20 after over 8 months of preparation.

The center will provide support in dealing with telecom fraud cases all over China. Personnel at the facility will search for and freeze illegal bank accounts and phone numbers, and track the flow of illegal money stemming from telecom fraud cases.

Since the founding process of the center begun in January this year, 40 illegal bank accounts with 1.1 billion yuan (around 16.5 million USD) have been frozen, 130 thousand illegal phone numbers have been suspended, and over 10 thousand fake base stations have been shut down.

The center held a ceremony in May to return money retrieved in telecom fraud cases to people who had been victimized by fraud, with around 30 million yuan given back. Another 50 million yuan will be sent back gradually starting from Tuesday.

A regulation over the return of illegal money recovered in telecom fraud cases, made by the Ministry of Public Security and China Banking Regulatory Commission, was also issued during Tuesday's inauguration ceremony. Officials with the public security authority in Beijing said that the center will return illegal money to the legitimate owners of that cash, face to face, after legal papers are signed, and no fees will be charged.