Beijing city officials launched a crackdown on unlicensed taxis in the capital following a recent spate of high-profile strikes by licensed cabbies in three Chinese cities and counties.

Transport authorities launched a 50-day campaign to rid the city of unregistered 'black taxis,' as they are known. The campaign began on Wednesday and is scheduled to last until Dec. 31. Unlicensed drivers will face steep fines,ranging from 10,000 yuan ($1,464) to 20,000 yuan, if they are caught. So far, 10 drivers were found to be operating taxis illegally, according to an official with the transportation department's law-enforcement division.

The official denied that Beijing's decision to crack down on unlicensed cabs was related to the strikes in other parts of the country. He said the city had targeted black taxis prior to hosting the Olympic Games in August, but they started to reappear once the Games ended.

Officials in Shanghai and in Shenyang, a large city in northeast China, also have taken measures to alleviate potential unrest among licensed taxi drivers, according to state media reports from those cities. In Shanghai, city officials scheduled meetings with taxi representatives to hear their concerns and said they planned to set up a government hotline for drivers.

In Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province, more than 40 unlicensed cabs have been seized since a campaign against them was launched on Nov. 8, the reports said.

Along with concerns about fees, competition from unlicensed taxis has been a recurring complaint among drivers. In Chongqing, where almost all of the city's 9,000 cabbies went on strike last week, authorities imposed heavy fines on unlicensed drivers following the strike. In Yongdeng County in northwest Gansu province, officials promised to eliminate black taxis within 10 days after a strike broke out earlier this week.

Meanwhile, some cabbies in the south China resort city of Sanya continued their strike into a fourth day. About 100 striking drivers protested in front of local government offices on Thursday and demanded a detailed planto address their grievances, official news agency Xinhua reported.

Yi Zhijun, the vice director of Sanya Communications Bureau, said that about two-thirds of Sanya's 1,000 licensed drivers had returned to work as of Thursday evening.

北京市开始开展打击“黑车”行动，此前中国其他三个市县爆发的出租车司机罢运事件引起了广泛的关注。

北京交通管理部门于本周三开始开展为期50天的清理城市黑车行动，预计将持续到12月31日。如果被抓获，黑车司机将面临人民币1万（约合1,464美元）至2万元的罚款。交通管理局执法部门的一位官员表示，目前为止，已有10名司机被发现违法经营出租车业务。

这位官员对北京打击黑车行动与其他城市的罢运事件有关予以否认。他说，在8月北京奥运会之前，北京就开展过清理黑车的行动，但是奥运会结束后，这些黑车又死灰复燃了。

国有媒体对于其他城市的报导称，上海和沈阳的政府官员也已采取措施，来消除正规出租车司机当中可能存在的不安定因素。在上海，政府官员安排和出租车司机代表举行座谈会，听取他们所担忧的问题，并表示他们计划为出租车司机设立一个政府热线。

报导称，沈阳自11月8日展开打击黑车行动以来，已经抓到40多辆黑车。

除了对收费过高的担忧之外，来自黑车的不当竞争一直是出租车司机反复抱怨的一个问题。在重庆市9,000名出租车司机上周进行罢运后，当地政府开始对黑车实施高额罚款。在甘肃永登县本周早些时候爆发罢运后，政府官员承诺将在10天内清理黑车。

与此同时，三亚市一些出租车司机的罢工行动进入到第四天。官方媒体新华社报导称，大约100名罢工司机周四在当地政府办公楼前抗议，要求政府拿出解决问题的具体方案。

三亚市交通局副局长易治军表示，截至周四晚间，三亚1,000名正规出租车司机中有三分之二已经恢复正常运营。