The national conference on foreign-related prosecution work is held in Shanghai on Nov 14.
Ying Yong, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), addresses the conference's opening ceremony.
Tong Jianming, Deputy Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and the First Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), presides over the opening ceremony.
Zhu Zhongming, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, addresses the opening ceremony of the conference.
The national conference on foreign-related procuratorial work was held in Shanghai on Nov 14, marking the first meeting convened by the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) specially dedicated to foreign-related procuratorial work.
The conference reviewed the latest progress and achievements in foreign-related procuratorial work, and planned related work on the new journey in the new era. It discussed ways to further enhance work in this field.
Ying Yong, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Prosecutor General of the SPP, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. Zhu Zhongming, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, also addressed the ceremony.
In recent years, procuratorial agencies have consciously integrated into the country's overall framework of foreign-related rule of law, continuously deepened bilateral and multilateral international procuratorial cooperation, strengthened international criminal judicial assistance, and strictly punished crimes endangering national security and transnational crimes.
They have comprehensively strengthened and standardized the handling of foreign-related cases, protected the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese and foreign parties in line with the law on an equal footing, enhanced international communication of prosecution work, and served high-level opening-up in a solid and effective manner, continuously promoting progress in foreign-related procuratorial work.
"Foreign-related procuratorial work is an important duty of procuratorial organs, a vital part of the prosecution work, and an important aspect of the country's foreign-related rule of law," Ying said in his speech.
He emphasized that, since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to foreign-related rule of law and made a series of major decisions and plans, providing fundamental guidelines for strengthening foreign-related procuratorial work on the new journey in the new era.
Ying urged the conscientious implementation of the decisions made at the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, emphasizing the need to better coordinate domestic and international imperatives as well as development and security, place foreign-related procuratorial work in the overall development of the Party and the country, identify positions and responsibilities for foreign-related procuratorial work in the new era, comprehensively enhance the capabilities and levels of foreign-related procuratorial work, and leverage judicial international cooperation to support major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, in a bid to safeguard national security and serve high-quality development and high-level opening-up.
It is a must to adhere to the Party's absolute leadership over procuratorial work and steadfastly follow the path of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, he said.
It is also essential to fulfill procuratorial duties in accordance with the law and in a standardized manner, rooted in the constitutional role of procuratorates as the national legal supervision organs. He highlighted the need to identify the focus of foreign-related procuratorial work to fully utilize the power of the rule of law to serve reform, development, stability and foreign affairs work, he added.
Noting that opening-up is a defining feature of Chinese modernization and high-level opening-up inevitably requires high-level rule-of-law safeguards, Ying called for a strong focus on the core tasks of the Party and the country, coordinating the advance of domestic and foreign-related rule of law, and more effectively safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests with high-quality procuratorial work.
He underscored the priority of safeguarding national political security in foreign-related procuratorial work, and urged coordinated efforts to improve mechanisms for safeguarding national security so as to resolutely safeguard the security of China's state power, systems and ideology.
It is necessary to continuously strengthen international law enforcement and judicial cooperation in the security field, jointly combat transnational crimes, cooperate in international anti-corruption and asset recovery, and promote the governance of foreign-related crimes, he said.
Ying called for efforts to serve the construction of a market-oriented, world-class business environment governed by a sound legal framework, punish transnational economic crimes in accordance with the law, uphold equal protection of various types of economic entities involving both domestic and foreign capitals in line with the law, and hold those who infringe upon the property rights and legitimate interests of various economic entities equally accountable.
Efforts should also be made to continuously implement procuratorial policies that support and guarantee the development of free trade zones and Hainan Free Trade Port, serve high-quality Belt and Road cooperation based on the procuratorial functions, and contribute to the country's high-level opening-up with foreign-related procuratorial work, he said.
Noting that handling foreign-related cases is an important task of foreign-related procuratorial work, Ying called for handling each foreign-related case with high quality and efficiency, faithfully implementing the Law of the People's Republic of China on International Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, strengthening supervision over the filing, investigation, trial and execution of foreign-related criminal cases, and equally protecting the legitimate rights and interests of both Chinese and foreign parties in accordance with the law.
It is necessary to actively participate in the formulation of foreign-related laws and regulations as well as international rules based on the reality of procuratorial work, conduct in-depth research on fundamental and forward-looking issues, and better advance the improvement of the foreign-related legal system, he added.
Pointing out that judicial exchanges and cooperation are a crucial part of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, Ying said that high-level mutual visits among procuratorial authorities are a direct approach to deepen international judicial exchanges and cooperation and bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms are important platforms for foreign-related prosecution.
It is essential to adhere to the strategic guidance of head-of-state diplomacy, actively and prudently promote high-level mutual visits of judicial and procuratorial officials according to the requirements of the country's overall diplomacy and central foreign affairs work, consolidate and expand multilateral cooperation mechanisms, such as the Prosecutors General Conference Mechanism of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States, the China-ASEAN Prosecutors General Conference Mechanism, and the BRICS Heads of Prosecution Services Meeting Mechanism, and promote exchanges and mutual learning through platforms such as the China-ASEAN Prosecutors Exchange and Training Base and the Central Asia Judicial Cooperation and Exchange Base, he said.
Ying emphasized the necessity to enhance the capabilities of international communication in the prosecutorial field, actively promote the historic achievements of China's rule of law development in the new era and make the voice of China's rule of law better heard by the world, in order to continuously enhance the understanding and recognition of Chinese solutions and Chinese judicial practices in the rule of law by the international community.
"Foreign-related rule of law work by the procuratorial organs is a comprehensive and systemic project that requires great synergy," Ying said, emphasizing the need to strengthen institutional construction to improve the quality and efficiency of foreign-related procuratorial work.
It is important to improve the mechanism for foreign-related procuratorial work that takes a holistic approach, promotes departmental coordination, and involves multi-party participation, he noted. It is essential to advance efficient collaboration with other law enforcement and judicial organs, enhance communication and cooperation with foreign affairs departments, and strengthen the collaborative efforts in foreign-related rule-of-law work, he said.
Ying called for strengthening research on foreign-related procuratorial theory and practice, and promoting in-depth research on basic theories and frontier issues of foreign-related prosecution, international law, legal systems and procuratorial systems of a particular region or country to better meet the needs of foreign-related prosecution practice.
It is necessary to enhance the talent pool for foreign-related prosecution, strive to cultivate procuratorial talents who are politically firm, professionally competent, knowledgeable about international rules, and proficient in foreign legal practices, he added.
On behalf of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Zhu expressed gratitude for the long-term support of the procuratorial agencies throughout the country for Shanghai's development.
He said that, in recent years, Shanghai's procuratorial organs have been active in exploring the building of a foreign-related procuratorial architecture that aligns with the development of a modern international metropolis.
He emphasized that advancing comprehensive reform and opening-up from a higher starting point is inseparable from the strong support of high-quality and efficient foreign-related rule of law and prosecution.
Efforts will be made to thoroughly implement the guiding principles of the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, faithfully study and implement the guiding principles of this conference, vigorously promote foreign-related prosecution reform, fully serve deepening reform and opening-up, strengthen the cultivation of foreign-related prosecution talents, and strive to provide more Shanghai experiences for comprehensively strengthening foreign-related procuratorial work, he added.
Tong Jianming, Deputy Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and First Deputy Prosecutor General of the SPP, presided over the opening ceremony and delivered a concluding speech, emphasizing that procuratorial organs must conscientiously implement the requirements of the conference and steadily promote foreign-related procuratorial work.
Tong underlined the need to fully fulfill foreign-related procuratorial duties, firmly uphold the holistic national security concept, resolutely safeguard national security, especially political security, vigorously crack down on all kinds of crimes endangering national security, and intensify efforts to combat transnational crimes.
It is necessary to promote the campaign of "procuratorial protection of enterprises", adhere to the equal protection of the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese and foreign parties in accordance with the law, and provide strong support for the construction of a new system of high-level open economy, he said.
Tong called for efforts to strictly enforce China's foreign-related laws and regulations, focus on implementation of laws and regulations in the field of international criminal judicial assistance, and strengthen regulations on the handling of foreign-related cases in accordance with the law.
Greater efforts should be made to conduct cross-border investigation and evidence collection, as well as in holding criminals at large accountable and recovering assets, he added.
Tong also emphasized the necessity to improve the mechanism for cultivating foreign-related prosecution talents, coordinate various aspects of talent selection, cultivation and management, establish a professional and competent training system that chimes with the positions of foreign-related rule of law, and actively involve prosecutors in specific foreign affairs, including handling foreign-related cases and engaging in international judicial cooperation and academic exchanges.
During the conference, group discussions were held on relevant opinions about strengthening foreign-related procuratorial work. Representatives from the SPP's Political Department, Procuratorial Department for General Crimes, and Civil Procuratorial Department, as well as those from provincial-level people's procuratorates of Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Yunnan, offered their insights during the exchange session.
Officials from the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and other relevant departments participate in the meeting.
Officials from the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and other relevant departments participated in the meeting.
Chen Yong, Chief Prosecutor of the Shanghai Municipal People's Procuratorate; Shen Jian, Chief Prosecutor of the Gansu Provincial People's Procuratorate; and leading officials from the SPP's internal departments and directly affiliated units; as well as officials from procuratorates of various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, the military procuratorate of the People's Liberation Army, and the procuratorate of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps participated in the meeting.
