Beijing - China's authorities Friday announced successes in the fight against counterfeit money in an attempt to counter the general public's rising uncertainty about money security.

State media reported on a series of arrests and trials. A 56-year-old man, who had owned counterfeit money with a face value of 830,000 yuan (121,000 dollars) was facing trial in the city Yiwu in the eastern Chinese Zhejiang province, the official China Daily newspaper reported.

However, the story said the man transported false banknotes from southern China into Zhejiang, indicating that his arrest had taken place a while ago.

Counterfeits, reportedly of high quality, turned up in more than one dozen cities and provinces just ahead of Chinese New Year, the main travelling season in the country.

The central bank warned against counterfeit money on offer via the internet and distributed information on 13 telltale signs of real Chinese banknotes.

Police in Canton, southern China, said they uncovered three gangs between December and mid-January and seized counterfeit money worth 4.4 million yuan. Seven people had been arrested, media reports said.

A 34-year-old farmer in Shanghai was sentence to 10 months in prison Tuesday. The man had attempted to buy a gold necklace at a jewellery shop in November with 52 fake 100-yuan notes. He said he bought the counterfeit banknotes from at a railway station for 10 yuan each. (dpa)