China boosts efforts to shield businesses from legal abuses

BEIJING -- China's top procuratorate has launched a new service to accept complaints regarding inappropriate or selective law enforcement targeting businesses, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) announced on Tuesday.

The tip-off channel, accessible via the official website www.12309.gov.cn, is aimed at protecting the rights and interests of all business entities on a legal and equal footing.

This campaign will particularly target law enforcement actions conducted outside designated jurisdictional areas, as well as selective law enforcement and judicial practices, according to the SPP.

Other complaints, such as the failure to file cases that should be filed, illegal mandatory measures, and fake lawsuits, will be handled through special procedures, the SPP said.

Over the past year, China's procuratorial agencies have made solid efforts to protect state-owned, private as well as foreign businesses by addressing their pressing concerns, helping to stabilize social expectations and boost market confidence.

In the first 11 months of 2024, more than 400 criminal cases involving businesses were revoked as part of a crackdown on selective law enforcement initiated by the SPP, which effectively upheld legal order and safeguarded the business environment, the SPP had said in an earlier statement.