China's Supreme People's Procuratorate File photo: SPP's WeChat account

China's procuratorial organs approved the arrest of 519,600 criminal suspects of various types and initiated public prosecutions against 1.053 million people from January to September this year, down 12.9 percent and 11.7 percent year-on-year respectively, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Friday, citing sources from the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Authorities strictly punished serious violent crimes such as intentional homicide, robbery and kidnapping, prosecuting 39,800 people — a year-on-year decrease of 10.8 percent. A total of 6,901 individuals involved in organized or gang-related crimes and 47 "protective umbrellas" were prosecuted as part of ongoing efforts to combat organized crime, according to the CCTV News.

Procuratorial organs also prosecuted 367,000 people for offenses including prostitution, gambling, drug-related crimes, theft, robbery and fraud. Efforts to enhance workplace safety accountability saw 3,292 prosecutions for crimes related to major accidents and dangerous operations.

A special plan for promoting cyberspace governance has been formulated, and 136,000 crimes committed through the internet have been prosecuted, including 49,000 cases of telecom and online fraud. 

Joint efforts have been made to advance the special campaign against telecom fraud involving northern Myanmar and other regions, and local procuratorial organs have been guided to initiate public prosecutions in accordance with the law for cases involving the criminal groups of the Bai, Liu and Wei families in northern Myanmar. Illegal and criminal acts such as cyberbullying, rumor-mongering and traffic-diversion by "online trolls" and public opinion extortion have been punished in accordance with the law, and the rule of law has been used to maintain a clean and upright cyberspace,CCTV News reported. 

In addition, 1,451 cases of crimes involving the infringement of citizens' personal information committed through the internet have been prosecuted, and 3,217 public interest litigation cases have been handled to protect personal privacy and information security.

Both symptoms and root causes have been addressed to promote social stability. The implementation of the opinions on handling drunk driving cases has been deepened. A total of 196,000 dangerous driving crime cases have been accepted for review and prosecution, and 177,000 prosecutions have been initiated, down 21.7 percent and 16.4 percent year-on-year respectively. 

Prosecutions have been initiated against 79,000 people for concealing or covering up criminal gains and 26,000 people for helping commit cybercrimes, representing a year-on-year decrease of 16.3 percent and 60.2 percent respectively, CCTV News reported.