BEIJING - Chinese police have solved about 3,700 pollution crimes and arrested over 5,730 suspects in 2018, the Ministry of Public Security said Tuesday.

Police nationwide uncovered an annual average of 8,000 environment-related criminal cases in recent years, including massive dumping of waste into Taihu Lake, one of the country's largest freshwater lakes.

An average of more than 20,000 pollution cases have been investigated by police every year since the revised Environmental Protection Law took effect on Jan 1, 2015, the ministry said.

Police have targeted environmental misconduct in the Yangtze River and delta, Pearl River Delta, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei this year, said the ministry, vowing a continued crackdown.