China's Procurator-General delivers annual work report

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China's Procurator General Cao Jianming on Friday delivered an annual report of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) over the past five years, reviewing issues including anti-corruption campaign, combating telecommunications (telecom) and Internet fraud, enhancing international judicial collaboration and technology used in judicial work.

Cao delivered the work report at the second plenary meeting of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress, China's top legislature in Beijing.

He said prosecutors all over the country approved the arrest of 4.53 million criminal suspects from 2013 to 2017, a 3.4 percent decrease compared with the number of five years ago; meanwhile, they prosecuted 7,173,000 people, up 19.2 percent compared with that of five years ago.

Review of SPP work (2013 – 2017)

Crackdown on corruption helped save 55.3 billion RMB

Cao vowed firmly to keep fighting against corruption, promised to insist on investigating and taking precautions against on-duty crimes.

Procurators investigated 254,419 people for their involvement in on-duty crimes, saving a total of 55.3 billion RMB (around 8.7 billion US dollars) for the country, according to Cao. Among the suspects of such crimes, 120 people at the ministerial or provincial level and above were punished in the past five years.

51,000 prosecuted for telecom and Internet fraud

Cao said 51,000 people involved in telecom and Internet fraud were prosecuted over the past two years. Moreover, fraudsters in cross-border telecom fraud cases were arrested during the same time.

International cooperation enhanced

The past five years witnessed the great development of international cooperation for the SPP, according to Cao, for example, The 22nd Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Association of Prosecutors were held in Beijing last year, with over 500 delegates from 98 countries taking part in the conference.

The 22nd Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Association of Prosecutors is held in Beijing, September 11, 2017. /Xinhua Photo

Cao added that the SPP had signed 145 bilateral cooperation agreements with 95 national and regional law enforcement and judicial organs, aiming to enhance the cooperation in areas such as counter-terrorism, combating telecom and Internet frauds, drug-related crimes as well as arresting those who fled abroad and recovering looted money.

Modern technology used in judicial work

China established a big data platform in 2014 to combine functions of case handling, management, supervision and statistics for all levels' procuratorates, Cao said.

"We are exploring the application of artificial intelligence in judicial work" and will put forward the intelligence-aided case handling system and other systems to promote the efficiency and fairness of judicial work in China, according to Cao.

/CGTN Graphic

Plan for 2018

In 2018, "China's procuratorates will deepen study and implementation of President Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era", and "safeguard the national political security and social stability," Cao said.

He added that the SPP would intensify efforts on legal supervision and uphold the unity, sanctity, and authority of China's legal system to firmly protect people's legitimate rights and interests.