BEIJING - China will launch a fresh police campaign to crack down on crimes involving guns and explosives, as it works to maintain social stability, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

Police will be targeting major cases, tracking criminal dens and eradicating their sales network during the campaign that will last until November, participants at a national teleconference of the ministry said Wednesday.

Despite the overall situation being stable, a quantity of prominent problems that undermines social stability still exists, said Huang Ming, Vice Minister of Public Security.

Police have been ordered to direct their efforts against contaminated food, phoney medicine, telecom frauds, the abduction of women and children as well as economic crimes.

They are also commissioned to take precautionary measures in ensuring social security, handling civil disputes and defusing major accidents.

Previously, the ministry conducted a special crackdown on explosives and gun-related crimes in 2009.

In 2010, when China hosted the Shanghai World Expo and Guangzhou Asian Games, the police set about with another campaign that targeted gun-related crimes, gang crimes, telecom fraud, the abduction of women and children, pornography, gambling and drug crimes.