The Supreme People's Procuratorate, in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources, convenes a seminar on the role of procuratorial authorities in serving and safeguarding the ecological conservation and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin in Yulin city, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, on April 25.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR), convened a seminar in Yulin city, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, on April 25. The seminar focused on the role of procuratorial authorities in serving and safeguarding the ecological conservation and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.During the seminar, the Yellow River Basin Procuratorial Public Interest Litigation Coordination Platform was launched, while the SPP and the MWR launched a one-year special campaign for the ecological protection of the Yellow River Basin.
Among those who spoke at the seminar were Ying Yong, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Prosecutor General of the SPP; Li Guoying, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Minister of the MWR; and Liu Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Shaanxi Provincial Committee and Secretary of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the provincial committee. Zhang Xueqiao, Deputy Prosecutor General of the SPP, chaired the meeting.
In recent years, procuratorial organs have diligently implemented the Yellow River Protection Law, strengthened procuratorial services for Yellow River protection and governance, and deepened cooperation between judicial authorities and law enforcement departments. They have collaborated with the MWR to carry out special campaigns for the protection of water resources in the Yellow River Basin, and worked with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to issue guidelines on strengthening the link between environmental damage compensation and procuratorial public interest litigation. They have handled a number of typical cases and facilitated the resolution of persistent issues in river and lake governance, contributing legal strength to the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.
Addressing the meeting, Ying pointed out that procuratorial organs must handle each case with high quality and efficiency and provide services for the comprehensive promotion of ecological conservation and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.
He stressed the need to crack down on crimes that damage the environment and resources in the Yellow River Basin, collaborate with water resources departments to advance the campaign for the river's ecological conservation, and establish a comprehensive governance system that integrates upstream and downstream efforts.
Focus should be placed on key issues in water conservation and control, intensifying case-handling efforts to punish crimes that endanger river safety in the Yellow River Basin and promote water resources protection and water safety, he said.
Efforts should also be made to optimize the law-based business environment in the Yellow River Basin, conduct in-depth supervision over trans-jurisdictional law enforcement and profit-driven law enforcement, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of various business entities equally in accordance with the law, he added.
Ying highlighted the importance of taking vigorous actions against crimes that jeopardize food and drug safety and illegal use of agricultural land, and called for consistent efforts to safeguard people's livelihood.
It is necessary to strengthen public interest litigation for the protection of cultural heritage and relics to provide more robust protection for Yellow River culture, he added.
Ying urged procuratorial organs to actively integrate into the overall ecological protection and collaboration framework for the Yellow River Basin, enhance cooperation with courts, public security authorities as well as administrative departments of water resources and ecology and environment, and establish and utilize the Yellow River Basin Procuratorial Public Interest Litigation Coordination Platform effectively.
He also called for improving the integrated mechanism for sustained supervision across different levels of procuratorates and coordination among the "four major procuratorial functions"to enhance the effectiveness of governance in the Yellow River.
Li pointed out that in recent years, the MWR has worked closely with the SPP to deepen the cooperation mechanism between administrative law enforcement and procuratorial public interest litigation, providing strong legal safeguards for the protection and governance of the Yellow River.
He emphasized that water resources departments at all levels in the Yellow River Basin must comprehensively implement the Yellow River Protection Law and strengthen cooperation with procuratorial organs, to jointly advance protection and governance of the Yellow River and high-quality development in the basin.
Efforts should be made to advance the cooperation mechanism between administrative law enforcement of water resources authorities and procuratorial public interest litigation, and leverage the Yellow River Basin Procuratorial Public Interest Litigation Coordination Platform, to promote governance in key areas such as water resources, river and lake ecological environments, and water and soil conservation and control, he added.
Li emphasized the need to make progress in the special campaign for the ecological protection of the Yellow River Basin, target issues identified by the digital monitoring system and problems discovered in disciplinary inspections, audits, environmental protection inspections, as well as by deputies to the people's congresses at all levels, members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), media, and the public, with a focus on cracking down on river-related crimes.
Continuous efforts should be made to strengthen legal education and popularization, effectively utilizing exemplary cases as deterrents against crimes, he said.
Liu said at the seminar that the political and legal authorities of Shaanxi province will provide high-level legal services to ensure the ecological conservation and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.
He urged procuratorial organs in the province to earnestly fulfill their legal supervision duties, strengthen procuratorial efforts in the conservation of the environment, and handle each case with high quality and efficiency, in order to provide robust judicial guarantees for the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.
During the seminar, the Yellow River Basin Procuratorial Public Interest Litigation Coordination Platform is launched.
Chief prosecutors of procuratorates in the nine provincial-level regions along the Yellow River take part in the seminar.
The seminar also featured the release of typical cases demonstrating the coordinated advancement of procuratorial supervision and administrative law enforcement for the protection of the Yellow River, as well as a report on work related to Yellow River protection public interest litigation by procuratorial offices.
Keynote speeches were delivered by officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Yellow River Conservancy Commission of the MWR, and other relevant departments.
Chief prosecutors of procuratorates of the nine provincial-level regions along the Yellow River exchanged insights on related work during the seminar.
Eight deputies to the National People's Congress and members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference attend the seminar.
Prior to the meeting, Ying held discussions with deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) and CPPCC National Committee members with a special interest in environmental issues.
Officials from the Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee of the National People's Congress, the Supreme People's Court, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the Yellow River Conservancy Commission of the MWR attend the seminar.
Officials from the NPC's Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee, the Supreme People's Court, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the MWR, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Yellow River Conservancy Commission of the MWR, as well as leading officials of water resources departments in the nine provincial-level regions along the Yellow River, and officials from relevant departments of the SPP attended the meeting.
