The Government is becoming increasingly alarmed over the rise in illegal weapons manufacturing and trading on the mainland.
Guangxi, along with four other western provinces - Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu and Tibet - where the problem is seen as most serious, according to the Sanlian Weekly, a Shanghai-based magazine.
As part of a crackdown over the past two months, Guangxi armed police recently raided 60 illegal weapon manufacturing shops, seizing 240,000 weapons including handguns, rifles, moulds and tools.
But it is an ongoing struggle. Gun-running is as lucrative as drug-trafficking and often controlled by the same underground gangs. Triad activity was also increasing, the report said.
According to a cross-border crime expert quoted in the report, three drug-trafficking routes are being used for arms importing. One is the southern line that connects Vietnam, Burma and Hong Kong. Guns and other weapons are also being smuggled in from South Korea and the former Soviet Union.
Carrying a gun is illegal in China but in minority areas such as Tibet and Qinghai province, hunting guns are tolerated. Authorities are concerned these areas could start to manufacture guns.
