Authorities redefine money laundering to combat rising crime

China's top judicial authorities announced strict measures on Monday to combat money laundering, in a bid to maintain financial order, safeguard national security and protect people's property by giving a new interpretation to the rising crime.

In the 13-article judicial interpretation, which was jointly issued by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, laundering money repeatedly or laundering over 5 million yuan ($699,375) will be identified as "serious circumstance" of the crime.

The offenders will face a jail term ranging from five to 10 years in line with the Criminal Law.

Those who refuse to cooperate with the recovery of property or cause a loss of more than 2.5 million yuan, will also be deemed as "serious" money laundering offense, according to the judicial interpretation, that will take effect on Tuesday.

Chinese courts have paid high attention to the fighting against money laundering to safeguard national economy and social stability after an increasing number of such offenses happened over the past few years.

Data released by the top court showed on Monday that the number of criminal cases involving money laundering concluded by courts nationwide rose to 861 in 2023 from 499 in 2021. From January to June this year, courts across the country have concluded 349 such cases.

"The upstream crimes of money laundering were mainly concentrated in drug, corruption, bribery and finance, accounting for more than 80 percent of the cases," said Chen Xueyong, deputy chief judge of the top court's No 3 Criminal Adjudication Tribunal.

With the wide application of internet technologies, the methods of money laundering are constantly being changed, he said, adding that virtual coins, online game coins and live streaming platforms have become new channels of money laundering.

Chen Hongxiang, chief judge of the tribunal, said that those who use underground banks, virtual coins and game coins to launder money are the prime targets.

In recent years, Chinese prosecutors have also stepped up efforts to crack down money laundering.

According to data released by the top procuratorate, 2,971 people were accused of money laundering last year, nearly 20 times the number prosecuted in 2019. In the first six months of this year, 1,391 people were prosecuted for the crime, up 28.4 year-on-year.