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.