More than 40,000 people suspected of taking part in cyber scams in Myanmar were handed over to China last year, Beijing state media said Friday.

Online fraud compounds have flourished in Myanmar's borderlands, staffed by citizens from China and other countries who are often trafficked and forced to work swindling their compatriots.

"With energetic cooperation of all parties in Myanmar, a total of 41,000 telecommunications internet fraud suspects were handed over to us in 2023," China's state broadcaster CCTV said, without offering details of their nationalities.

The report added that China's Ministry of Public Security had "cracked down heavily on fraud-related criminal gangs that provided illegal services such as online promotion, money laundering, technology development, and organization of illegal migration for overseas fraud groups."

In November, Myanmar's junta said it has arrested two cyber scam ringleaders operating from a lawless northern town and wanted by China, and a third took his own life during the arrest.

The United Nations said last year that at least 120,000 people could be trapped in scam compounds in Myanmar.

Online fraud compounds have flourished in Myanmar's borderlands, staffed by citizens from China and other countries who are often trafficked and forced to work swindling their compatriots.

The scams anger Beijing, a major ally of Myanmar's junta, and China has repeatedly told the military to crack down on the industry, which analysts say is worth billions of dollars a year.

"Since August, the number of telecommunications internet fraud cases has continuously declined, and crackdown and control work has achieved outstanding results," CCTV said.