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Read in Chinese

Speakers:

Tong Jianming, grand prosecutor and first deputy prosecutor general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP)

Zhang Xiaojin, head of the Fourth Procuratorial Office of the SPP

Hu Weilie, head of the Eighth Procuratorial Office of the SPP

Gao Jingfeng, head of the Law Policy Research Office of the SPP

Chairperson:

Chen Wenjun, spokesperson of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC)

Date:

July 18, 2022

Chen Wenjun:

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee. Today, we are holding the 16th press conference under the theme of "China in the past decade." We have invited Mr. Tong Jianming, grand prosecutor and first deputy prosecutor general of the SPP, who will brief you on the progress and effect of legal supervision of the people's procuratorates in the new era and answer your questions. Also present at the press conference today are Mr. Zhang Xiaojin, head of the Fourth Procuratorial Office of the SPP, Mr. Hu Weilie, head of the Eighth Procuratorial Office of the SPP, and Mr. Gao Jingfeng, head of the Law Policy Research Office of the SPP.

Now, let's give the floor to Mr. Tong for his introduction.

Tong Jianming:

Friends from the press, good morning. I'm very glad to be attending this press conference held by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee under the theme of "China in the past decade." First, I would like to express my thanks for your interest in and support for the work of the people's procuratorates.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to the legal supervision of the people's procuratorates. General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a series of important instructions, pointing out the direction for the development of the Party's procuratorial undertakings in the new era. Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, the people's procuratorates have adhered to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and thoroughly implemented Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law. We have acquired a deep understanding of the decisive significance of the establishment of both Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and increased our awareness of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and maintain alignment with the central Party leadership. We have stayed confident in the path, the theory, the system and the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We have firmly upheld Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and upheld the Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership. We have conscientiously implemented the Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Strengthening the Legal Supervision of Procuratorial Organs in the New Era. Keeping in mind the political guidance, we have taken into account the big picture, sought development and focused on self-improvement, and actively exercised our four major functions regarding criminal, civil, administrative and public interest litigation in accordance with the law. We have provided a strong judicial guarantee for high-quality economic and social development. Our work has mainly focused on the following five aspects:

First, we have coordinated development and security, serving the overarching tasks of the Party and the country. The procuratorates have always regarded serving high-quality economic and social development as their fundamental mission. Adopting a holistic approach to national security, we have punished all types of criminal offenses in accordance with the law, and created a harmonious and stable social environment for economic and social development. From 2013 to June this year, 8.58 million criminal suspects were arrested and 14.9 million were prosecuted. We have carried out a three-year special campaign against organized crime, adhering to "not letting a single criminal involved in gang activities remain at large and not wrongly convicting any innocent persons." 230,000 gang-related criminals and 2,987 people acting as "protective umbrellas" have been prosecuted. Through continuous efforts, the Party has led the people in sustaining rapid economic development and long-term social stability. From 2013 to 2021, the number of people prosecuted for suspected serious violent crimes dropped from 108,000 to 59,000. Given the notable changes in the structure of crimes, such as the continuous decline of serious crimes and the increase in the proportion of misdemeanors year by year, we have exercised the policy of being prudent when making arrest decisions and reducing the numbers of arrests and detentions. The ratio of criminal cases without arrest and without prosecution climbed from 17.9% and 4.9% in 2013 to 39.2% and 23.5% in the first half of this year. The percentage of pre-prosecution custody made by procuratorial organs has dropped from 61.1% in 2013 to 32.7% in the first half of this year, marking notable judicial progress. Leveraging the procuratorial function, we have actively created a law-based business environment. The punishment of economic crimes has been intensified. From 2013 to June this year, 1.03 million people were prosecuted for crimes that undermined the order of the market economy. We have also protected intellectual property rights in an all-round way by overseeing criminal, civil and administrative proceedings to serve innovation-driven development. In 2021, 14,000 people were prosecuted for intellectual property infringement, an increase of 59.3% over 2013. A procuratorial office was established in the China Securities Regulatory Commission to facilitate the healthy development of the capital market. We have explored and carried out pilot reforms for enterprise compliance. When handling cases involving enterprises, procuratorial organs can choose not to approve arrest or prosecute to the full extent in accordance with the law and urge the enterprises involved to make commitments to comply and rectify. Through both "lenient practice" and "strict regulation," we worked to prevent the situation whereby "cases are handled but the businesses are shut down," and a group of companies involved have transformed themselves and embarked on the track of operating in compliance with laws and regulations. 

Second, following a people-centered approach, we have worked to resolve the most pressing difficulties and problems that are of great concern to the people. We have strived to handle every case directly affecting the people with concentrated attention. At the "two sessions" in 2019, the SPP promised that "all letters from the masses will be provided with a procedural reply within seven days and the handling process or result reply within three months." As of June this year, the procuratorial organs have received 3.16 million letters and visits from the people, and responded to nearly 95%. We have earnestly implemented the Law on the Protection of Minors, and exercised zero tolerance for crimes against minors, prosecuting 256,000 people from 2018 to June this year. The mandatory reporting and background check systems of people who mistreat minors established in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Security have been included into laws.

Third, we have actively exercised our four major functions and strived to make the people feel a sense of fairness and justice in every judicial case. According to the adjustment of procuratorial functions, a systematic, holistic and radical reform was made to the internal institutions, while the four major functions regarding criminal, civil, administrative and public interest litigation were decided. Over the past few years, we have worked hard in criminal prosecution and promoted the supervision system "integrating arrest and prosecution" to enhance the quality and efficiency of case handling. In response to the people's strong complaints about "sentences not being served" and "payment for early release," we have established an innovative circuit procuratorial system to ensure justice in prisons and detention centers. On civil proceedings, we have paid attention to precise supervision, and handled typical cases with guiding significance for economic and social development in accordance with the law. From 2013 to June this year, 41,000 protests were filed against civil judgments deemed erroneous. Efforts have been made to carry out supervision on administrative prosecution, with 1,762 protests filed against administrative judgments that were deemed erroneous. While handling administrative appeal cases, we have carried out in-depth substantive resolution of administrative disputes, and have resolved 21,000 administrative disputes, including 1,258 disputes that have lasted more than 10 years. Efforts have been made to do a good job in public interest litigation. We have focused on prominent problems that harm public welfare in the fields of ecological environment, food and drug safety, and increased the intensity of case handling. 169,000 cases were filed in 2021, the first year after the public interest litigation system was officially established, which was 1.5 times that in 2018. Following a win-win approach, 98% of administrative public interest litigation procuratorial proposals have been effectively implemented before litigation, and the "China solution" for public interest judicial protection has been continuously improved.

Fourth, reform of the judicial system has been deepened to improve the socialist procuratorial system with Chinese characteristics. We have made the judicial accountability system a top priority and continued to advance the reform measures of the category-based management of procuratorial personnel and the case handling liability system of prosecutors. We have committed to a scientific management model to enforce judicial accountability. We have introduced an index to evaluate the performances of prosecutors in the wake of the fact that some cases have to go through repeated processes, thereby leaving the litigants in litigation fatigue. Thanks to the evaluation index, we can ensure that prosecutors will do their best at the very beginning of each case. As a result, 864,000 judicial processes, which couldn't decide disputes, were condensed or reduced between 2020 and 2021. The index system has been called the "green GDP" of the judicial system to evaluate the efficiency and effect of case handling. 

Fifth, we have been working ceaselessly to keep ourselves competent to cement the foundation for the long-term development of procuratorial work. We have launched the campaign on Party history learning and education on an ongoing basis, and activities have also been carried out to rectify and consolidate the ranks of procuratorial organs. Training programs have been launched to improve staff members' political awareness and competence. Stepped-up efforts have been made to improve the evaluation system for procuratorial personnel to promote their political caliber, professional competence, and work ethics in a synergized manner. To foster a healthy judicial atmosphere of integrity, we have made great efforts to implement the three sets of regulations on preventing interference with judicial procedures and make greater efforts to ensure prevention and control of judicial interference. 

Going forward, the procuratorial authorities will follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, implement the opinions issued by the CPC Central Committee, and practice the people-centered development philosophy, to improve the efficiency and effect of legal supervision in the new era. We will make further contributions to building a modern socialist country in all respects to set the stage for the 20th National Congress of the CPC with concrete actions. 

That concludes my introduction. Next, my colleagues and I would like to take any questions you are concerned about. 

Chen Wenjun:

Thank you. Now the floor is open for questions. Please identify the media outlet you represent before asking your questions.

Zhonghongwang.com:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to the rule of law and political and legal work. In June 2021, the CPC Central Committee released the opinions on strengthening legal supervision of the procuratorial organs in the new era. What efforts have the procuratorial organs made to implement the opinions over the past year? What measures have been adopted to ensure legal supervision and management to achieve high-quality development in the new era? What achievements have been made? Thank you. 

Tong Jianming:

Thank you for your questions. I'll answer this question. Last year, ahead of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, the CPC Central Committee issued opinions on strengthening the legal supervision of procuratorial organs in the new era, showing the firm resolve of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core to advance law-based governance in all aspects further, and it also shows that the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to the progress on legal supervision of procuratorial organs. According to our understanding, the opinions aim to use Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law to deal with specific problems concerning legal supervision of the procuratorial organs, which serves and will serve as the guidelines for the procuratorial work at present and for the time to come. 

The opinions pointed out that the people's procuratorates serve as the state organs to perform legal supervision and ensure unified and proper enforcement of state laws. They serve as crucial forces in protecting national and public interests. It identifies roles, responsibilities, and missions that the procuratorial organs need to play and fulfill in the new era. The opinions made 19 specific requirements for the procuratorial organs to ensure that they will serve the overall interests and for the sake of the people; that they need to make comprehensive efforts to improve efficiency and effect of legal supervision; and that they should ramp up efforts to build a stronger team and offer effective organizational support for legal supervision, all of which thereby has charted the course for procuratorial work. 

Over the past year, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and procuratorial organs have always taken the study and implementation of the opinions as a prominent political task and made great efforts to ensure its implementation in the following five aspects. First, the Party's leadership has been the major impetus. Procuratorial organs at all levels report to their respective Party committees and political and legal affairs commissions to ensure that the implementation of the opinions is involved in the work of local Party committees. As many as 30 provincial-level Party committees have issued implementation measures, providing effective guidance and great support for procuratorial organs in fulfilling their duties. Second, implementation measures have been specifically identified. We have set up 54 items of tasks and 222 specific measures, and leading Party members groups need to deal with the difficulties and problems in implementation every two months. Third, we have worked with other political and legal affairs organs to address the difficulties in legal supervision. The Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security have jointly issued a guideline and set up a task force to ensure supervision of investigations and facilitate cooperation, starting legal supervision of investigations at an earlier stage. We have also worked with the Supreme People's Court to establish a mechanism to share information regarding legal supervision over civil enforcement. Fourth, our focus has been on improving the efficiency and effect of legal supervision. The Supreme People's Procuratorate has made improving procuratorial work a top priority for this year, aiming to enhance the political building and improve the professional competence of the staff members to ensure that legal supervision can be efficient and effective. Fifth, we have made great efforts to promote the development of local procuratorates with the spirit of conducting poverty alleviation work. Last year, we adopted targeted measures to help 129 local procuratorates to give better play of their roles. As a result, 82 of them have become more functional to fulfill their responsibilities better.

It is an important and long-term political task to implement the opinions. We will further enhance our political awareness and the awareness in advancing the rule of law and procuratorial work to further integrate the implementation of those deployments and requirements identified in the opinions with specific procuratorial work. As such, we can better leverage the role of legal supervision and contribute more to the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance. Thank you. 

China Media Group:

In the new era, security means much more than before, and the people have a higher demand for security. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, I wonder how procuratorial organs have grasped the fundamental requirement of coordinating development and security to safeguard national security and social stability? What efforts have procuratorial organs made to meet the people's higher demand for security? Thank you.

Tong Jianming:

Thank you for your questions. I invite Mr. Zhang Xiaojin, head of the SPP's fourth procuratorial office, to answer your questions. He had long worked in the first procuratorial office before working as the head of the fourth procuratorial office.

Zhang Xiaojin:

Security is the foundation of development, and development provides a guarantee for security. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, procuratorial organs, while upholding the people-centered philosophy, have fulfilled greater political responsibilities and met higher requirements on safeguarding national security, social stability, and the people's wellbeing. On the one hand, we have adhered to a holistic approach to national security and severely cracked down on crimes threatening national security, institutional security, economic security, cyber security, and social stability. We have taken multiple coordinated measures to guard against and defuse various risks and hidden dangers affecting social and economic development. On the other hand, we have thoroughly combined punishment and clemency in handling criminal cases and implemented the judicial policy of reducing the number of arrests and being prudent when making prosecution and custody decisions for criminal cases and a system of sentence bargaining in criminal cases, minimizing social antagonism and promoting social stability.

The safeguard of security is inseparable from constructing standardized and efficient law enforcement and judicial mechanism. In November 2021, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the Opinions on Improving the Mechanism of Investigation Supervision and Collaboration. Procuratorial and public security organs at all levels have greatly promoted the construction of offices for investigation supervision and collaboration. So far, the offices have covered all the cities and counties. We have promoted standardized law enforcement and impartial administration of justice. In the first half of this year, procuratorial organs supervised the filing of 87.1% of cases and the withdrawal of 95.9% of cases, and 97.3% of written corrections against illegal investigation activities have been adopted. Procuratorial organs and public security have cooperated more closely, effectively improving the quality and efficiency of case handling.

"A case weighs more than a pile of documents." We have put forward new and higher requirements for procuratorial organs on safeguarding security and attached great importance to the guiding and leading role of cases in case handling. From 2019 to 2021, the SPP publicized 44 guiding cases concerning criminal prosecutions in 11 batches, up 183% and 120% over the previous three years, respectively. 490 typical cases in 81 batches were released. 

On your second question, procuratorial organs have worked to meet the people's higher demand for security. They have tried their best to perform procuratorial duties and ensure the people's sense of security.

First, we have tried for three years to crack down on organized crime and root out local criminal gangs. We have handled, following the law, hundreds of major and complex organized and gang-related crime cases, including the Sun Xiaoguo case in Yunnan province, the case of the buried body in the playground in Hunan province, and the Huang Hongfa case in Hainan province, effectively deterring organized crime. We have made it an ongoing effort and achieved steady progress.

Second, in accordance with the law, we have continued to crack down on serious violent crimes that endanger the people's sense of security, crimes against vulnerable groups such as women and children, and other heinous crimes. We have prosecuted and cracked down on criminals severely and resolutely safeguarded people's safety and social stability.

Third, we have strictly punished crimes such as illegal fundraising, telecom and internet fraud, and pension fraud. More than 206,000 people were prosecuted from 2019 to 2021, a powerful deterrent. At the same time, we have guided and urged those involved in cases to take the initiative to pay compensation or surrender ill-gotten gains and done our best to recover the losses for the people. Thank you.

Beijing Radio & Television Station:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has made major plans to comprehensively deepen judicial system reform. What measures have procuratorial organs taken to ensure the reform of the judicial responsibility system and the proper exercise of procuratorial power? What has been achieved? Thank you.

Tong Jianming:

I would like to invite Mr. Gao Jingfeng to answer your questions.

Gao Jingfeng:

Thank you for your questions. The judicial responsibility system plays a fundamental role in the reform of the judicial system and is what we must firmly focus on in deepening the reform. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the SPP has continued to consolidate and deepen reform measures such as the category-based management of procurators and the procurator responsibility system for handling cases and actively translated the achievements of reforming the judicial responsibility system into legislation. Some mature practices in this regard have been translated into the provisions of the Organic Law of the People's Procuratorates and the Procurator Law. At the same time, a series of systems for the selection, withdrawal, evaluation, accountability, and punishment of procurators have been established to ensure the implementation of the Organic Law of the People's Procuratorates and the Procurator Law, basically forming a supporting system for the reform of the judicial responsibility system. Procuratorates at all levels have earnestly implemented various working mechanisms and facilitated the smooth implementation of the new judicial mechanism for handling cases, showing new vigor and vitality in all procuratorial work. It is shown in the following aspects.

First, a virtuous circle has gradually formed in the team of prosecutors. The quota system for procurators has been implemented, and procurators are selected regularly. By the end of June this year, there were 69,000 quota-based procurators in procuratorial organs across the country. We implemented a merit-based system. Since 2018, more than 1,300 people have voluntarily quit their posts due to pressure from case handling, assessment, and personal reasons. More than 440 people have been dismissed because they failed the assessment.

Second, the primary role of procurators in judicial case handling has been more prominent. Through the reform of the judicial responsibility system, the principle of "those who handle a case and who decide to assume full responsibility for it" has been implemented, and the scope of powers and responsibilities of procurators, chief procurators, and procuratorial committees has been defined in the form of a list. Procurators exercise powers in accordance with the law within the scope and assume full responsibility for cases they handle. Their enthusiasm, sense of responsibility, and quality and efficiency in handling cases have been significantly improved. Of course, while delegating power, we also paid special attention to strengthening supervision and restraint, and by implementing rules for handling criminal, civil, administrative, and public interest litigation, we have further promoted the fair, standardized, and efficient exercise of procuratorial powers in accordance with the law.

Third, we have given full play to the role of leading officials. To ensure that leading officials, though few in number, play a key role in implementing the judicial responsibility system, the SPP has issued specialized guidelines which require qualified leading officials to handle cases and set a strict bar on the types, numbers, and standards of the cases. We stress that they must read case files. We have improved relevant mechanisms and set up a system for reporting information on leading officials directly handling cases. From 2019 to 2021, qualified leaders of procuratorial organs nationwide handled more than 1.88 million cases of various types, accounting for 11.8% of the total.

Fourth, we have further implemented the accountability system for miscarriages of justice. The Party leadership group of the SPP clearly stated that granting state compensation does not mean the completion of error correction, and the responsible entities must be held accountable. In 2021, the SPP conducted a comprehensive investigation of 246 retried criminal cases since 2018 and supervised the correction of 22 cases where the wrongly convicted had been in custody for 10 years or above to ensure the implementation of the accountability system.

Going forward, procuratorial organs will deepen the reform of the judicial accountability system and ensure that prosecutors more faithfully perform their duties to improve the quality and efficiency of the judicial system. Thank you.

People.cn:

The whole society pays great attention to the protection of minors. The SPP set up a specialized procuratorial office in 2018. What are the developments and changes regarding its work over the past four years? As the amended Law on the Protection of Minors and the Law on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency have been implemented, what measures will you take to better protect the minors? Thank you.

Tong Jianming:

Thank you for the questions. I have been tasked with the work at the Ninth Procuratorial Office to protect minors. So, I will answer your questions.

The Party and the country attach great importance to the healthy growth of minors. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made instructions on different occasions, emphasizing that "the whole of society should understand, respect, care for, and serve children, and create a sound environment for their development." The presence of procuratorial organs can be seen throughout the judicial protection of minors. Furthermore, the CPC Central Committee approved the establishment of a specialized procuratorial office for minors. This means that we have an important political duty. We've come to understand more deeply that the protection of minors is a sacred cause. What we are doing today will benefit generations to come. So, we can't stress the importance of the work strongly enough. Here I would like to brief you, using three phrases, on our work protecting minors.

The first is "two-way protection." When we handle cases, we do our best to educate, persuade, and rehabilitate juvenile offenders and care for and assist underage victims. We should protect both juvenile offenders and underage victims. That's what we call "two-way protection." For juvenile offenders with less malicious intentions and accused of minor offenses, we are prudent when making arrest and prosecution decisions and try to reduce the number of arrests. In the first half of this year, the non-arrest, non-prosecution, and conditional non-prosecution rates for juvenile crimes reached 63%, 54%, and 36%, about 29, 30, and 24 percentage points higher than the same period in 2018, respectively. The figures reflect the principle of "education, persuasion and rehabilitation" for juvenile offenders. At the same time, we should punish serious juvenile crimes without connivance. From 2018 to the first half of this year, we indicted 46,000 juvenile criminal suspects. To fully protect underage victims' legitimate rights and interests, we issued guidelines on offering assistance to them. We set up more than 1,600 one-stop case handling sites in collaboration with public security organs. The sites facilitate inquiry and evidence collection and prevent secondary harm to underage victims. 

The second is "comprehensive protection." Complex and diverse factors cause criminal cases involving juveniles, often closely related to the lack of protection of their legal rights and interests, such as civil guardianship and administrative rights. Last year, the SPP started centrally handling criminal, civil, administrative, and public interest litigation cases concerning juveniles. When handling the cases, the specialized procuratorial offices, organizations, and procurators integrate various functions to improve the quality and effectiveness of the protection for minors. For example, we found that tattoos are prevalent among juveniles involved in criminal cases and called for the prohibition of tattoos for juveniles through public interest litigation. We also submitted a special report to the leading group on protecting minors of the State Council. The leading group took it very seriously and issued guidelines on regulating underage tattooing to address the problem at the source.

The third is "six-dimensional protection." The newly revised Law on the Protection of Minors has developed a new model of protecting minors with efforts from six dimensions: family, school, society, cyberspace, government, and judicial authorities. The procuratorial organs have actively performed their duties of legal supervision and brought a "chemical reaction" to the six-dimensional protection to achieve a better effect of "one plus five is greater than six." For example, to ensure school safety, the SPP sent the No. 1 SPP proposal to the Ministry of Education (MOE) in 2018. Since then, the two departments have worked jointly to implement the proposal with local procuratorial organs and education and administrative authorities. In the first half of this year, the number of indictments for crimes related to school violence and bullying dropped by 84.6% compared with the same period of 2018. Also, we have fully implemented the mechanisms mentioned above, including mandatory reporting and employment-based criminal record checks, which developed through practice and have been incorporated into the law. By doing so, procuratorates have handled over 2,800 cases of infringement on minors that were found via a mandatory reporting mechanism. Authorities have conducted employment-based criminal record checks for over 7.4 million people engaged in industries with close contact with minors. More than 2,900 people with criminal records were removed from their posts. These measures have offered minors concrete protection by preventing many "Big Bad Wolves" from engaging in occupations that have close contact with them.

This October, the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee will hear the SPP's specific report on juvenile-related procuratorial work. Taking it as an opportunity, we will continue working with other related departments to jointly implement the Law on the Protection of Minors and the Law on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency. We will promote integrating and implementing the six-dimensional protection to perform our duties better and help our motherland's flowers grow well. Thank you.

Thecover.cn:

In recent years, public interest litigation has drawn wide attention from the public. What progress has been made since procuratorial organs started the work of public interest litigation on a full scale in 2017? What features does the mechanism have? Thank you.

Tong Jianming:

Thank you for your questions. They will be answered by Mr. Hu Weilie, head of the SPP's Eighth Procuratorial Office, which is in charge of public interest litigation.

Hu Weilie:

I would like to express my appreciation to you and all the friends from the media who have continued giving attention and support to the procuratorial organs' work of public interest litigation.

Public interest litigation is indeed a brand new procuratorial function. It is a major judicial reform measure decided and planned by the Party Central Committee and General Secretary Xi Jinping after the 18th CPC National Congress. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that procurators shoulder important responsibilities as representatives of the public interest and that Chinese procuratorial organs are important players in protecting the national and public interest. In October 2014, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Party Central Committee proposed exploring a litigation system for filing public interest lawsuits by procuratorial organs, launching the reform for filing public interest litigation. Later, with the authorization of the NPC Standing Committee, the SPP launched a two-year pilot program for public interest litigation in several regions and has made remarkable progress. On July 1, 2017, the Civil Procedure Law and the Administrative Procedure Law revised at the 28th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th NPC officially went into effect, establishing the mechanism for procuratorial organs to file public interest lawsuits.

During the past five years, procuratorial organs have followed a people-centered approach, placed public interest protection at the core, and executed their duties of legal supervision in the form of litigation. The number of public interest lawsuits filed by prosecutors has increased steadily, and the quality and efficiency of handling cases have improved. Prosecutors have filed over 670,000 public interest litigation cases. As a result, about 7.86 million mu (about 524,000 hectares) of damaged farmlands, forests, wetlands, and grasslands have been restored, over 45.84 million metric tonnes of garbage and solid waste recycled or cleared, and 9.35 billion yuan (about $1.38 billion) recovered for ecological restoration and environmental improvement. Also, under the watch of procuratorial organs, approximately 1.82 million kg of counterfeit and substandard food and 60,000 kg of counterfeit and smuggled drugs have been investigated, tackled, and recalled. Meanwhile, state assets, national rights and interests worth about 15.95 billion yuan have been protected and recovered. About 33.72 billion yuan of transferring fees of state-owned land use rights has been retrieved, and 58,000 mu (about 3867 hectares) of illegally appropriated state-owned land has been recalled.

Based on developments over the past five years, the procuratorial public interest litigation system has demonstrated the fundamental characteristic of turning the Party's leadership and the advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics into governance efficacy. In practice, the system has shown the following specific characteristics: First, a people-centered approach has been adopted and thorny issues concerning livelihoods have been addressed. The SPP has successively launched specialized programs, including those under the themes of "safeguarding the food safety of households," "protecting living standards with public interest litigation" and "doing practical work and solving long-standing thorny issues," with a focus on issues close to people's everyday lives, such as ecology and the environment, workplace safety, and food and drug safety. Second, efforts have been made to improve legislation and promote the development of the rule of law. Provisions for procuratorial public interest litigation have been successively added to the Civil Procedure Law, Administrative Procedure Law, Organic Law of the People's Procuratorates, Procurators Law, Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs, Law on the Protection of Minors, Law on Workplace Safety, Law on the Protection of Status, Rights and Interests of Military Personnel, Personal Information Protection Law, and Anti-monopoly Law, among other laws. The Supreme People's Court and the SPP issued judicial interpretations; the SPP formulated rules for handling cases; and the standing committees of local people's congresses adopted special decisions to strengthen public interest litigation. The system of laws and regulations for procuratorial public interest litigation in China has been continuously enriched. Third, coordinated efforts have been taken to protect public interest and the advantages of the system were demonstrated. During the handling of cases, the procuratorial organs have adopted a tiered approach, including consultation, pre-litigation procuratorial suggestions and litigation, to urge administrative organs to fully perform their duties in accordance with the law, so as to promote the building of a law-based government. At the same time, coordination with administrative organs has been strengthened to create strong synergy for the protection of public interest. Fourth, supporting mechanisms have been improved to raise the quality and efficiency of protection. For example, improving the trans-regional coordination mechanism and promoting systematic governance of harm to public interest through integrated case handling, using satellite remote sensing, unmanned aerial vehicles, big data, rapid detection and other technologies to strengthen investigation guarantees, and promoting pre-litigation roundtables, hearings and other methods to strengthen public participation. All of these measures have greatly raised the quality, efficiency and credibility of the handling of public interest litigation cases. Thank you.

Changjiang Daily:

In recent years, the SPP and provincial procuratorates have handled public interest litigation cases directly, drawing much attention from the public. Why were these cases directly handled by the SPP and provincial procuratorates? What role did they play? Thank you.

Hu Weilie:

Thank you. In recent years, the SPP and provincial procuratorates have focused on major decisions and arrangements of the Party and the state, and have directly filed some public interest litigation cases involving extensive areas and serious harm, which cannot be handled effectively by lower-level procuratorates. You are a reporter from Changjiang Daily. So, for example, some trans-river and trans-regional cases involving major rivers and lakes which have harmed public interest cannot be handled effectively by a single local procuratorate, and so the SPP and provincial procuratorates have directly handled the cases. In 2021, the two levels of procuratorates handled a total of 110 cases, giving full play to the unique value of the system that direct handling of cases contributes at a higher level with wider coverage and scope to raising the efficiency of national governance and serving and safeguarding high-quality development. The public interest litigation cases directly filed and handled by the SPP and provincial procuratorates are major and complex cases extending nationwide or across a province, involving entities of oversight at a relatively high level, and important cases across administrative divisions of provinces and cities, or across river basins. For example, the SPP directly handled the exemplary cases of Wanfeng Lake and Nansi Lake concerning ecological and environmental damage, fully demonstrating the power of the rule of law in handling cases by higher-level procuratorates. As far as the exemplary case of Nansi Lake is concerned, the Nansi Lake basin involves 34 counties and cities across Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan and Anhui provinces. According to the water area, the Nansi Lake basin is divided into different regions that are managed separately. As the priorities, methods and specific standards of management vary greatly, no one province or place can address the issue alone. The task force of the SPP focused its efforts on the root causes such as inconsistent pollution treatment standards in the basin and inconsistent tempo of treatment of river sections in different places. It filed 205 exemplary cases, urging the whole river basin to work together to reverse the problem of pollution treatment, restoring clear water to the lake, and promoting the eastern routes of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project to be put into operation. In the exemplary case of Wanfeng Lake, the SPP overcame the stubborn problem that illegal cage culture caused pollution in river basins. At the same time, it proactively extended its function of handling cases and worked with the departments of ecology and environment, water resources, agriculture and rural affairs and so on to address problems concerning people's livelihoods in areas lifted out of poverty, removing the last crucial hurdle in turning lucid waters and lush mountains into invaluable assets.

As things stand now, the SPP and provincial procuratorates' direct handling of these cases has shown unique value.

First, the advantages of the integration of procuratorial organs have been better utilized and the different advantages of the four levels of procuratorial organs in handling cases have been given full play. The higher-level procuratorial organs conducted in-depth demonstrations and strong supervision. Meanwhile, the lower-level procuratorial organs made use of advantages in human resources and geographical advantages, conducting thorough investigations and implementation to better solve the trans-river and trans-regional problems harming public interest.

Second, systematic governance has been enhanced. In handling public interest litigation cases, the procuratorial organs do not work alone. Instead, they take win-win and all-win as their goals and coordinate all forces to forge synergy for protecting public interest by performing legal supervision, activating the administrative regulation system, and strengthening regulation efficiency. The handling of cases by the SPP and provincial procuratorates is conducive to promoting the solution to common problems in the field, industry and region from a higher level and making up for weak links in social governance.

Third, overall efficacy of case handling has been improved. By handling cases directly, higher-level procuratorates obtained a deep understanding of the problems and difficulties in the case handling process and so can issue guidance to lower-level procuratorates that is more targeted and effective. By participating in the handling of major, difficult and complicated cases of the higher-level procuratorates, primary-level procurators could also improve their professionalism. Therefore, those working in primary-level procuratorates received training and improved their quality, thereby raising the quality and efficiency of case handling.

Thank you.

Beijing News:

Market entities are the carriers of economic strength. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has been highly concerned about the growth and development of market entities, and has emphasized the fostering of a market-oriented and law-based international business environment. In recent years, what specific measures have the procuratorial organs taken to protect the legitimate rights and interests of market entities and foster a law-based business environment? Thank you.

Tong Jianming:

Thank you for your question. I will give the floor to Mr. Zhang Xiaojin, director-general of the SPP's Fourth Procuratorial Office responsible for economic crime cases,to answer this question. 

Zhang Xiaojin:

As she said, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to the development of enterprises. General Secretary Xi has pointed out that the rule of law is the best business environment. The procuratorial organs are duty-bound to optimize the law-based business environment. In recent years, the procuratorial organs have thoroughly carried out the new development philosophy and actively taken multiple measures to ensure equal protection for the private economy.

First, we have rolled out a set of normative documents to materialize the legitimate rights and interests of private enterprises. The SPP has introduced multiple opinions and measures represented by those aiming to promote the sound development of the non-public sector of the economy in accordance with the law, strengthen judicial protection of property rights, and build a legal environment that protects the legitimate rights and interests of entrepreneurs to further support their innovation and startups. In November 2018, the SPP issued 11 law enforcement and judicial standards. In July 2020, the highest procuratorial organ of China issued the Opinions on Fully Exercising Procuratorial Functions to Serve and Ensure Stability on Six Fronts and Security in Six Areas, especially making plans to ensure the security of market entities.

Second, we have prudently handled criminal cases involving private enterprises in accordance with the law. On the one hand, we have strictly cracked down on crimes such as embezzlement, misappropriation of funds, IPR violations, and other acts that disrupt normal business order, as well as those violating personal or property rights and operational independence of business owners. Moreover, in accordance with the law, we have strictly punished gang-related crimes such as illegal loan sharks, market monopoly, forcible contracting of projects, and meddling in civil disputes to seek illegal profits that polluted the business environment and threatened the survival and development of private enterprises. On the other hand, in handling business crimes involving personnel such as those in charge of private enterprises, managerial staff, and key technical staff, we have fully considered the characteristics of the development of private enterprises, reduced the number of arrests and exercised prudence in making prosecution and detention decisions in accordance with the law. In meting out punishment, we use clemency in accordance with the law to avoid unnecessary arrests, unnecessary prosecutions and unnecessary sentencing. Compulsory measures, such as the sealing, seizure, and freezing of assets, have also been carried out in a more prudent manner.

Third, we have strengthened lawsuit supervision over criminal cases involving enterprises. In addressing the issue of longstanding unresolved cases, the SPP has screened out a total of 9,815 unsettled cases under joint efforts with the Ministry of Public Security since 2019. Under the supervision of the two departments, 8,707 unsubstantiated cases were closed in accordance with the legal principle of "Presumption of Innocence until Proven Guilty," further stimulating the vitality of enterprises. Over the past years, the procuratorial organs have continuously carried out special supervision campaigns on criminal cases involving the non-public sector of the economy, conducting clean-up and supervision activities over complaint cases. We have set up pilot schemes and granted those well-performed enterprises subject to community corrections, with permission to conduct business activities in other cities temporarily. 

Particularly, to better play the role of procuratorial organs in advancing the high-quality socioeconomic development, procuratorial organs have piloted reforms among enterprises involved in criminal cases to urge them to make compliance commitments and follow through on their promises. While sticking to the policy of reducing the number of arrests and exercising prudence in making prosecution and detention decisions in accordance with the law, the pilot reform has not only put involved enterprises back on the track of rules compliance and law abidance but also effectively warned those that potentially lack regulatory constraints to operate in full compliance with relevant laws and regulations. The SPP conducted two-stage pilot reforms in both 2020 and 2021. It started to extend the reforms across the country in early April. At present, we have built a third-party supervision and evaluation mechanism with 12 departments, including the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. Local procuratorial organs have stepped up efforts to integrate with the third-party mechanism in handling criminal cases involving enterprises. As of the end of this June, procuratorial organs across the country had dealt with a total of 2,382 compliance cases, 1,584 of which were applicable to the third-party mechanism. As for those 606 enterprises subject to corrections, 1,159 people were exempt from prosecution in accordance with the law, which produced favorable results. For example, under the supervision and urge of a local procuratorial department, a suspected private enterprise of Hunan was confirmed to be qualified by the third-party mechanism after a six-month-long rectification period. Then the local procuratorial department made the decision not to prosecute. Therefore, the regenerated company has returned to the right track, increased investment by hundreds of millions of yuan, and created jobs for hundreds of people.

Southern Metropolis Daily:

The speaker mentioned that procuratorial organs have carried out the criminal policy of fewer arrests, cautious prosecution and detention, and the system of sentence bargaining. What is the background of these policies and what is their significance? How are they implemented in reality? Thank you. 

Zhang Xiaojin:

The all-around social and economic development has led to remarkable changes in the pattern of crimes committed across the country, with the continuous decrease in robbery, murder, and other serious violent crimes but the sharp rise of crimes endangering economic and social management order such as drunk driving and disturbing market order. I would like to introduce the two "90%'s": first, about 90% of cases are misdemeanors, involving individuals sentenced to fewer than three years of imprisonment or non-prosecution; second, the application rate of sentence bargaining has also been close to 90%. Most of the cases are misdemeanor cases. For the suspects and defendants who pleaded guilty and accepted their punishments, their subjective malignancy and social harm were greatly reduced, and. therefore, there is no need to put them in custody for trial. In the face of such major changes, the philosophies and policies behind case handling should keep pace with the times. Against this historical background, following the reform of sentence bargaining proposed at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, the CPC Central Committee established the criminal policy of fewer arrests and cautious prosecution and detention last year, giving full play to the legal, political, and social effect of cases handling and accelerating the transformation from focusing on "criminal punishment" to "good governance" so as to promote the modernization of national governance. 

Procuratorial organs conscientiously implemented the sentence bargaining system and the policy of "fewer arrests, prudent prosecution and detention" Since then, remarkable achievements have been made. By far, the complaint rate of cases involving the sentence bargaining system stands at 0.046%, 6.45 percentage points lower than other criminal cases. The custody rate before litigation dropped to 59.3% in 2020 from 91.4% 20 years ago. By June, the rate further lowered to 32.7%. I'd like to stress that sentence bargaining does not equal uniform leniency, and "fewer arrests, prudent prosecution and detention" doesn't mean no arrests, no litigation, and no custody. While implementing the system and policy, procuratorial organs shall consider specific cases and public opinion and prescribe clemency or severity according to the law. Severe punishments must be meted out while handling crimes seriously undermining national security and public security, violent crimes, gang-related crimes, crimes against vulnerable groups such as women, children, the elderly, and the disabled, and other serious crimes committed with malicious intent. Misdemeanors with aggravating circumstances shall also be punished severely. Supervision could be realized through high-tech means such as electric bracelet wearing and big data analysis for suspects of misdemeanors who are not subject to arrest. Suspects who will not be prosecuted but shall receive administrative punishment will be transferred to competent authorities. All the efforts are aimed to combine punishment with clemency in criminal prosecution and ensure the severity of the administrative penalty. Thank you.

Red Star News:

The SPP issued its eighth procuratorial suggestion this year, attracting public attention. What role does procuratorial suggestion play in promoting the correct implementation of laws and advancing social governance? Thank you. 

Gao Jingfeng:

Thank you for your question. Procuratorial suggestion is an essential way of exercising supervision guaranteed by the Organic Law of the People's Procuratorates. Since 2018, the SPP has conscientiously implemented the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on rule of law advancement, which stresses both problem solving and preemptive prevention. We actively fulfilled our duties in accordance with the law and issued procuratorial suggestions on social governance to relevant administrative authorities. So far, eight suggestions have been issued to help tackle major problems in campus security, judicial notice service, financial supervision, management of underground pipeline covers, fraud litigation, cyberspace governance, and safety in express delivery and the workplace. All levels of procuratorial organs and relevant departments worked together to put the suggestions into practice, providing a solid legal guarantee for modernizing social governance. 

First, we pooled efforts with procuratorial suggestions to promote social governance. Take our first suggestion on campus security. Right after its issuance, the SPP and the All-China Women's Federation promoted family education in cases involving minors. They advocated a notice urging guardians to fulfill their duties. Together with the Communist Youth League of China Central Committee, the SPP launched demonstration workshops on minor supporting systems in 80 places. It also collaborated with the Ministry of Education to formulate a regulation on procurators serving as vice school principals to promote the rule of law. Synergized protection from judicial departments, families, schools, society, cyberspace, and the government was fostered and strengthened.

Second, we focused on preemptive prevention and addressed problems at the source. For example, the SPP issued its seventh procuratorial suggestion to relevant departments, targeting the problems of loose package inspection and lack of oversight over new business forms in the express delivery service. A plan for tightening up security of express delivery was later jointly introduced by the SPP and the State Post Bureau. During a special campaign jointly organized by the Ministry of Public Security and the State Post Bureau from last October to this May, more than 2,100 cases involving the delivery of drugs, guns and ammunition, explosives, wildlife, and related products were resolved. A joint mechanism was established between procuratorial organs in Jiangsu, Hubei, and Yunnan provinces with local post bureaus and public security departments. Together they strengthened postal oversight, cut off contraband goods' circulation, and prevented the illegal and criminal behaviors of transporting contraband goods through postal channels.

Third, we adopted a systematic approach to bolster systematic governance. While implementing the fourth procuratorial suggestion on plugging loopholes in the management of underground pipeline covers, all levels of procuratorial organs worked with the broader vision of ensuring public safety. The People's Procuratorate of Tianjin Municipality launched a three-year campaign together with the city's urban management bureau to improve safety in pipeline and well operations along the urban roads. Procuratorial organs in Shanghai and Jiangsu issued a guideline on establishing a mechanism to synergize criminal and public interest prosecutions regarding public safety. They also built a mechanism to facilitate the transfer of clues concerning public safety. 

In the future, procuratorial organs will refine the quality of procuratorial suggestions and take concrete steps to advance their implementation and strengthen litigation source governance. Thank you.

Legal Daily:

Some say that the judicial system is the ultimate protector of social equity and justice, and procurators play an important role in it. Could you share with us the practical measures for training procurators to take on their responsibilities and promote social equity and justice? Thank you. 

Tong Jianming:

Thank you for your question. I will answer it. As you said, the judicial system is the ultimate protector of social equity and justice. To ensure its soundness, the caliber of judicial personnel is a matter of great importance. General Secretary Xi Jinping remarked insightfully: "To comprehensively advance law-based governance, it is essential to develop a high-caliber body of skilled and upright legal professionals." The SPP has regarded the development of a high-caliber body of procurators as a task of fundamental importance and has carried out integrated training to raise their political integrity, professional competence, and work ethics. Specifically, efforts cover the following aspects. 

First, we are integrating political awareness improvement into professional training. Seeing political awareness as the foremost requirement of professionalism, we have kept deepening the study of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era among all procurators. Moreover, we have carried out intensive education among Party members to stay true to the Party's original aspiration and founding mission and better understand Party history, among other initiatives. These efforts have ensured procurators' absolute loyalty, purity, and reliability. At the same time, we have set professional ability as the basic ability for carrying out supervision over case handling from a political perspective. We have compiled a series of textbooks on studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law and performing procuratorial duties. We have also brought procurators, judges, and police officers together for the same training sessions. So far, nearly 2,000 such sessions have been held, with the number of participants reaching over 380,000. The legal professionals participating in such sessions can update their judicial understanding and enhance their professional competence. 

Second, we are improving the basic capacity for legal supervision and pursuing qualitative changes in the work through integrated efforts. To improve the basic capacity for legal supervision, we have required procurators to pursue excellence at work. As mentioned a moment ago, we have introduced the ratio of a case and the relevant litigation procedures it must go through to measure the quality of case handling. We have also improved the mechanism for evaluating the performance of procurators. With these measures, we hope procurators will be more conscientious about serving China's big-picture interests and work for the people. To pursue qualitative changes, we are embracing the trend of digitalization. The SPP held a special meeting to discuss procuratorial digitalization. Plans have been made for further carrying out the procuratorial big data strategy so that big data will be made full use of to promote smart supervision and scientific management and address the disputes at their sources. The "digital revolution" is expected to improve the quality and effectiveness of legal supervision in the new era.

Third, we show great care for procurators by being strict with them. It takes a good blacksmith to make good steel. Procuratorial organs, tasked with the responsibility of legal supervision, must have the courage to carry out self-supervision. Regarding strict management and supervision as the biggest and most genuine care for procurators, we have continually reformed the mechanism for exercising procuratorial power. We have adopted rules for handling criminal, civil, administrative, and public interest litigations and introduced a list of procuratorial power to ensure that procuratorial power is exercised according to law. We have obliged procurators to be responsible by holding them accountable for any misconduct committed. Just as Mr. Gao Jingfeng said when answering a question about the judicial responsibility system, we must give effect to the responsibility system. We have initiated the process of holding the procurators accountable for their misconduct in the 246 misjudged criminal cases for which we have changed verdicts since 2018.

Moreover, 511 procurators have been held strictly to account. The judicial responsibility system has been implemented in real earnest. Some of them had retired for more than 10 or 20 years before being held accountable, which reflects lifelong accountability. Always upholding strict management and with the courage of self-reform, we have worked to fulfill the political responsibility of strictly governing Party members and procurators. Furthermore, we have already consolidated the achievements in educating procurators and rectifying their misconduct. We have carried out seven rounds of full-coverage disciplinary inspection tours and follow-up inspections, continually implemented the three rules for preventing interference in judicial activities, and coordinated action to raise the awareness, ability, and resolve to resist corruption.

Developing a body of high-caliber procurators is a never-ending journey. We will follow the requirements of General Secretary Xi Jinping that officials must be politically strong and highly competent, have a strong sense of responsibility, strictly observe disciplines, and maintain excellent conduct to unremittingly improve ourselves and strive to develop a loyal, upright and responsible army of procurators.

Thank you.

Chen Wenjun: 

Thank you to all speakers and friends from the media. Today's press conference is now concluded.

Translated and edited by Wang Yiming, Zhang Liying, Gong Yingchun, Liu Sitong, Zhang Jiaqi, Zhou Jing, Xu Kailin, Qin Qi, Liu Qiang, Yuan Fang, Yang Xi, Li Xiao, Li Huiru, David Ball, Tom Arnsten, and Jay Birbeck. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.