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BEIJING, Thursday (AFP) Police in south China have smashed the country's biggest fake credit card racket, confiscating more than 17,000 cards that could have racked up over 320 million yuan (38 million dollars) in losses, state press said Thursday.

Seven suspects were arrested when the counterfeit cards, including Mastercard, Visa, Diner's Club and other cards from more than 20 overseas issuers, were confiscated in Guangdong province's Zhuhai city, the China Daily reported.

"The technology and equipment used to produce the fake cards were found to be the most advanced in the world," Zhang Bingzhou, a lead investigator in the case told the paper.

Police seized more than 400 code readers, computers, printers, scanners and other equipment, as well as overseas credit card information that was being used to produce the cards, he said.

Officers were tipped off by investigators in neighboring Macau and also collaborated with police in Hong Kong to foil the gang after a month-long inquiry.

The criminals were planning to sell the fake cards in Britain, Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macau, the report said.

The estimate of 320 million yuan of potential losses was incurred by international credit card organizations, the paper said.

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