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.