英语文摘:China cracks down on online soccer gambling as FIFA World Cup kicks off

BEIJING, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police have launched crackdowns all over China to curb online soccer gambling as the 2010 World Cup kicks off in South Africa.

More than 100 people have been detained for participating in online soccer gambling with more than 10 billion yuan (1.47 billion U.S. dollars) in funds involved in one case in Yuyao City, east China's Zhejiang Province, said Dong Xiaowei, deputy chief of the provincial public security bureau.

More than 70 gambling groups have been cracked for online soccer gambling this year with more than 300 arrested, he said.

Similar cases have been uncovered in Beijing, Chongqing, Shaanxi, Fujian and Shandong.

There are about 2,000 Chinese and offshore websites for soccer gambling in China, and the membership of some websites amounts to one million, according to Public Security Ministry data.

Gambling is prohibited on the Chinese mainland by law.