Controlling the rising number of criminal activities will prove to be a challenging task for security agencies across the country in 2009, a senior Party official has said.

Chen Jiping, deputy secretary-general of the office of the CPC Central Political and Legislative Affairs Committee, told the Outlook magazine that the country's economy faces "unprecedented challenges" in the wake of the financial crisis, and it may pose a serious threat to internal security.

Chen's office is in charge of coordinating security, courts, public prosecution and justice departments in China.