Cash rewards totaling 4.2 million yuan ($657,800) has been handed to members of the public who helped police during a five month crackdown on economic crime, China Youth Daily reported on Monday.

During the nationwide crackdown, which started on March 1, police recorded 264,000 cases of suspected economic crime and identified 189,000 possible criminal cases in which some 143,000 suspects have been sent to court for trial.

The crackdown was strongly supported by the Chinese public, who provided 36,000 tip-offs to police who investigated 12,000 cases based on information from the public. People who gave tips to the police were rewarded with cash.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, 51.5 percent of the cases involved the manufacture and sale of counterfeit goods, pyramid selling, illegal fund-raising, credit card fraud, embezzlement and contract fraud.