Police in Guangdong province swooped down on 40 criminal gangs that stole vehicles and detained 223 suspects during a special campaign that included some gunbattles, a senior police officer said.

"We met strong resistance during the campaign, and some suspects returned fire," Chen Junhua, a division chief with the criminal investigation bureau under the Guangdong Provincial Department of Public Security, said on Tuesday.

No casualties were reported, Chen said.

Lin Weixiong, director of the bureau, said police seized 280 stolen vehicles, including luxury cars of Porsche, Toyota and Honda brands, as well as motorcycles, during the two-day campaign code-named Daofeng, or knife edge, which was launched Aug 14.

Police cracked a total of 510 vehicle theft and related cases during the campaign, which was launched simultaneously in 17 prefecture-level cities in the province, Lin told a news conference.

"The campaign has dealt a heavy blow to car theft and related crimes, which used to be active in the prosperous southern province," Lin said.

In the city of Jieyang in the eastern part of Guangdong, police detained 61 suspects after busting a major cross-province gang that stole motorcycles.

A total of 112 motorcycles and two cars were seized in a special operation in which 600 police officers took part in the early morning on Aug 14.

The gang used to steal the vehicles in Jieyang and sell them outside the province.

Additionally, police detained 14 suspects after they broke up a major car theft gang in the city of Jiangmen in the Pearl River delta. Eight luxury cars, as well as numerous car parts and fake license plates, were seized during the campaign.

Despite the achievements, Guangdong police will not lower their vigilance in the coming months, Lin said, hinting that more special operations could be launched to target vehicle theft in the province.

"Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong and Macao, is a province that registers a large number of vehicles. And therefore fighting vehicle theft and related crimes is a long-term and tough task," he added.

According to the provincial traffic department, Guangdong has registered about 25 million vehicles - about 10 percent of the country's total.

Zhang Yiri, an associate professor at Guangzhou City Polytechnic, said police should also spare no effort in fighting illegal vehicle refitting, the illegal vehicle-parts business and the illegal operation of vehicles that have no license plates.

In addition to the largest number of vehicles registered in the province, Zhang attributed the growing number of vehicle thefts to the province's brisk business of secondhand vehicles, as well as active underground trading of secondhand car parts.

"Those who operate the vehicles that have no license plates should be punished heavily to help deter other suspected car thieves," Zhang told China Daily.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn