A Beijing man has been detained for selling firecrackers without a license, following a month-long safety campaign, police said yesterday.

Tang Yunli, deputy chief of the social security administration department of Beijing's public security bureau, said that between Nov 20 and Saturday, 78 people were found selling illegal firecrackers and more than 17,000 boxes of the product were confiscated.

The campaign is an annual event aimed at ensuring the public's safety during the calendar New Year and Spring Festival holidays, he said.