BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- China's chief police officer on Tuesday asked nationwide police authorities to take proactive measures and crack down upon mafia-like groups for the 60th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

    Meng Jianzhu, state councilor and public security minister, made the remarks at a tele-conference Tuesday, urging police authorities to master the movements of gangster groups.

    He said gangster groups' illegal activities are quite active during the country's economic and social transformations, and police forces should cut off gangsters' links to economic operation and prevent them from infiltrating into the political sector.

    Police authorities should target on major gangster groups and root out the "protective umbrella" behind them, the police chief said.

    Police forces should prevent Communist Party and government officials from being corrupted by those underworld organizations, and also prevent those organizations from manipulating grassroots elections and other political issues by violence, threats and bribery, Meng said.

    The official also asked the authorities of business administration, tax, finance, construction and soil to provide full cooperation in terms of the crackdown on the gangsters.

    Meng's remarks came two days after a serious riot occurred in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in which rioters killed 156 people and injured more than 1,000.

    According to the Political and Judiciary Commission under the Communist Party of China Central Committee, police forces around the country have destroyed 12,850 mafia-like organizations and seized more than 2,500 illegal firearms.