CRI听力:Spam Calls Reach All-time High in China 

New stats show the number of spam calls made in China hit an all-time high last year.

Industry analysis suggests some 27-billion spam calls were made last year in China, with the number of calls through the 4th quarter nearly doubled compared to the same period a year earlier.

Sougou Technology helped compile the numbers.

Si Tiange is an engineer with the company.

"Most spam calls are made in the most developed areas in China, with the top three places being Guangdong, Shanghai and Beijing. People in those places have to deal with an average of 2.27 times as many spam calls as people elsewhere in China."

Word of the new figures has once-again reignited debate about whether the government should step in to legislate against telephone harassment.

Hu Gang with the China Internet Society Research Center suggests the existing laws can be made tougher.

"The Consumer Protection Law could be re-interpreted by the People's Congress. As an example, if people receive cold calls which they've clearly refused before, the caller could face a 500 yuan fine. This kind of change to the legal system can both ensure the normal operation of telephone marketing and protect the legal rights of cell phone users."

The industry report has found nearly 43-percent of the spam calls fall under the category of scam and fraud.