Haidian police crackdown on campus fraud with new safety model

Police in Beijing's Haidian district have enhanced legal education for students to prevent campus fraud, continuously strengthening protections for school safety and young people, particularly minors.

Known nationwide for its educational prominence, Haidian is home to 37 universities, including Tsinghua University and Peking University, as well as 560 middle schools, primary schools and kindergartens.

Wang Rong, deputy head of the Beijing public security bureau's Haidian branch, emphasized at a news conference on Friday that campus safety is a top priority, with district police consistently placing school security at the forefront.

In response to the covert and rapidly evolving nature of telecom fraud cases on college campuses over the past three years, she noted that the branch has collaborated with schools to establish an innovative safety prevention model — a police-school alliance. This initiative has led to over 2,600 anti-fraud activities, including short video dramas and the appointment of campus anti-fraud ambassadors.

"The alliance has attracted many university student volunteers, as well as teachers, international students, and participants in overseas study programs, further intensifying the protective network against fraud on campuses," she said.

In 2025, the branch partnered with 37 universities to form a specialized anti-fraud task force led by schools, involving security departments, faculty, and multiple institutions. "We organized knowledge competitions, distributed multilingual legal education handbooks for international students, and produced anti-fraud programs to help students learn about fraud prevention in their daily lives," she added.

Citing data, she mentioned that telecom fraud cases involving universities in the district decreased by nearly one-third in 2025 compared to the previous year.

Beyond schools, police have also stepped-up anti-fraud efforts in residential communities and other areas. Hu Haiyuan, head of the branch, said at the press conference that police efforts helped the public avoid economic losses amounting to 430 million yuan ($61.6 million) in 2025.

He also revealed that the number of criminal cases filed in the district last year decreased significantly, with homicide cases continuing to decline. Cases of theft and burglary dropped by 34.8 percent and 88.9 percent year-on-year, respectively, further enhancing the public's sense of security, he added.