BEIJING - Chinese police have solved more than 150 major crimes concerning securities and futures since 2002, retrieving economic losses worth more than 30 billion yuan ($4.5 billion ), figures from the Ministry of Public Security show.

According to the ministry on Friday, the total sum involved in these cases surpassed 200 billion yuan.

In one prominent case, Huang Guangyu, former chairman of Chinese electronics retail giant Gome, was sentenced to 14 years in prison in May after being convicted of illegal business dealings, insider trading and corporate bribery.

At the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court, Huang was also fined 600 million yuan and had 200 million yuan worth of assets confiscated.

China's capital market is still in an "early and transition" stage, and various systematic problems might have given way to some illegal activities, according to a Ministry statement. It vowed to retain a "high-voltage" crackdown on securities-related crimes.

China's stock exchange first began operating in 1990 in the financial hubs of Shanghai and Shenzhen.