Wu Dongli, director of the ministry's public order management bureau, said in an online interview on Wednesday that a handful of rural people in remote and backward areas were illegally producing firearms to make money.

The guns were sold to criminals, putting the public at serious risk.

Wu said gun-related crimes had dropped by 8.8 percent from 2003,but the illegal gun trade was still operating.

He said the public must provide more information to help police deal with gun crime.

Chinese law prohibits civilians from keeping guns, ammunition, explosives and certain sorts of knives. Minor violations of the law can incur jail sentences of three to ten years, but life imprisonment or the death penalty can be handed down in serious cases.

Public security authorities last year received 3,259 tip offs about crimes involving firearms, explosives and knives in Beijing, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi and Guangdong.

The information helped police resolve 680 cases and arrest more than 2,900 people.

In June, police arrested 37 alleged gang members on charges of illegally trading and possessing firearms in north China's Hebei Province.