China has experienced a sharp rise in cybercrime and is seeing a new breed of Internet criminals as illegal sales of weapons and porn flourish online, a senior security official has said.

Gu Jianguo, director of network protection for the Ministry of Public Security, said cases of cybercrime have increased by an average of 30 percent each year since 2008.

Gu said authorities are seeing a new kind of criminal behavior in cyberspace, with an increase in the online sale of firearms and ammunition, wiretapping devices and fake professional certificates. Online gambling and pornography distribution are also on the rise.