Police in Nepal have detained 122 Chinese nationals in their biggest crackdown on crime by foreigners entering the country on tourist visas, officials said on Tuesday.

The chief of police in Kathmandu said that the suspects were rounded up in raids on Monday following information that they were engaged in suspicious activities.

The Chinese are suspected of carrying out cyber crime and hacking into bank cash machines, Uttam Subedi said, adding that they were being held in different police stations and their passports and laptop computers had been seized.

"This is the first time that so many foreigners have been detained for suspected criminal activities," Mr Subedi said.

Chinese embassy officials were not immediately available for comment but another senior police officer, Hobindra Bogati, said the embassy knew of the raids and had supported the detention of the suspects.

Chinese people are regularly detained in Asian countries on suspicion of involvement in various illegal activities, often involving fraud in China.

Last week, authorities in the Philippines arrested 342 Chinese workers in a raid on an unlicensed gambling operation.

In September, police arrested five Chinese nationals on a charge of stealing money by hacking bank cash machines. Chinese citizens were also arrested with smuggled gold this year.