SHANGHAI has this year achieved a 97.1 percent success rate in solving criminal cases, said Bai Shaokang, director of the city’s public security bureau, in a Shanghai Television interview last night.

For years the rate has been above 95 percent.

The number of robbery cases dropped by 20 percent between January and September, compared with the same period in 2013, he said.

Bai also said that more than 200 suspects in some 190 food safety cases have been detained this year. A special force was established in February to tackle such crimes.