China will stage a campaign against manufacture and sale of guns in the lead-up to the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress, Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun said Tuesday.

Speaking at a symposium which gathered police chief from across the country, Guo said campaigns on management of explosives and hazardous items, improved courier and logistics security as well as fire safety of high-rise buildings will also be staged.

Together, these campaigns will serve to “safeguard stability and security and promote harmony,” and help build a safe and stable social environment for a successful Party congress, Guo said.

The 19th CPC National Congress, a major event in the political life of the Party and the state, will be held in Beijing in the second half of 2017.

Possession of guns by private individuals is illegal in China. The country has long maintained high pressure on gun crime and has asked the public to turn in illegal guns and explosives and report anything suspicious to the police.

Beijing police Wednesday seized 3,185 pieces of suspected ivory.

The products — weighing 48.3 kg combined — were on display at seven stalls in the Guanxin Market in Chaoyang District. Ten people have been held for questioning.

Police said their investigation had been going on for some time before Wednesday’s raid. The items have all been sent to labs to confirm whether they are made of ivory.

Chinese craftsmen have a long history of carving elephant tusks into elaborate artworks, which are often very expensive.

The government plans a full ban on commercial processing and sale of ivory and products by the end of this year.

Police said the illegal ivory trade has been dropping in recent years. Last year, the amount of smuggled ivory tracked down by the authorities fell as much as 80 percent from previous peak years.

A total of 30,538 Chinese officials were investigated for work-related crimes in the first half of 2017, according to a seminar for chief procurators on Wednesday.

The number came from 29 provinces, with Beijing, Shanxi and Zhejiang, the pilot provinces and regions for the reform of the monitoring system excluded, marking a 19.6-percent year-on-year increase from last year.

Of the total, 1,505 of the investigated were on county level, while another 224 were on bureau level for committing duty crimes including bribery and misconduct.

Up to 1,650 officials among those investigated were related to duty crimes in poverty alleviation work, up 81.7 percent on a yearly basis, as a result of the stronger hand against the crimes in poverty relief over the past six months.

Also, 495 were investigated and punished for work-related crimes that led to accidents with serious consequences.

A man has been arrested in central China’s Hunan province for alleged rape and murder of children and teenagers, said local police.

Yao Changfeng, the suspect, was caught on Saturday while attempting to rape an 11-year-old girl by a road in Yuanling county.

By comparing him with images in the database, police found Yao was wanted for allegedly killing two children in December 2011, and a 15-year-old girl in February 2013.

After investigation, police learned that between 2013 and 2017, Yao raped ten others, three of whom were minors.

Yao also confessed to 42 thefts involving more than 17,000 yuan (about 2,500 U.S. dollars).

To avoid the police, he allegedly travelled by bike and lived in caves, under bridges or tents in the wilderness.

The Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of the adjacent Hubei province issued a notice in February, offering 200,000 yuan for information which may lead to Yao’s arrest.

Chinese President Xi Jinping received the credentials presented by eight new ambassadors to China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday.

The ambassadors are Selim Belortaja from Albania, Jose Bernal from Mexico, Usenov Azamat from Kyrgyzstan, Mothusi Palai from Botswana, Edward Boateng from Ghana, Terry Branstad from the United States, Jean-Maurice Ripert from France, and Patricia Rodriguez Holkemeyer from Costa Rica.

Xi welcomed the ambassadors to China and asked them to convey his sincere greetings and good wishes to the leaders and people of their countries.

The Chinese government will provide convenience and support for the work of the ambassadors and hopes that they will actively contribute to bilateral relations between China and their countries, Xi said.

Xi spoke positively of traditional friendship and sound relations with the eight countries, and said China will enhance mutual trust, promote pragmatic cooperation, and deepen people-to-people exchanges to boost bilateral ties.

The ambassadors conveyed greetings from their state leaders to Xi. They said their countries highly value the relations with China, as well as the friendship between the peoples, and expect to participate in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

They said they feel greatly honored to serve as ambassadors to China, and will devote their best efforts to promoting cooperation between their countries and China, as well as deepening mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples.