China improves judicial protection for minors in handling juvenile delinquency

BEIJING - China has made headway in improving judicial protection for juveniles while dealing with juvenile delinquency, according to authorities on Thursday.

Since 2016, China has seen 1,869 juvenile criminal suspects enroll in universities after being educated and helped by procuratorial agencies, Shi Weizhong, chief of a department for juvenile prosecution under the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), said at a press conference co-hosted by the SPP and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League (CYL).

Shi said last year, a total of 6,959 juvenile criminal suspects were granted conditional non-prosecution throughout the country, doubling that in 2013 when the conditional non-prosecution system took effect in China.

He said more than 5,000 juveniles with criminal involvement in Shanghai have received help and education from various aspects of society since 2010, of whom 99.4 percent avoided repeated crimes.

Chinese procuratorial agencies have worked with other authorities and entities to educate and help minors involved in criminal cases reintegrate into society.

According to a cooperation framework deal signed in February 2018 between the SPP and the CYL Central Committee, both sides are advancing the building of a system of seeking support from various aspects of society for juveniles involved in criminal cases.

Wang Songmiao, a spokesperson for the SPP, called for efforts from government, all sectors of society and non-governmental organizations, among others, to jointly build up a protective environment for the minors.