China prosecutes more than 80,000 for crimes against minors

BEIJING - More than 80,000 people were prosecuted from the beginning of 2016 to November 2017 on charges such as child abuse, rape and trafficking, according to China's top procuratorate.

During the same period, more than 58,000 were arrested on suspicion of these crimes, said Zheng Xinjian, head of the minor case division of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP).

"Chinese procuratorates have always taken a zero-tolerance stance against crimes involving juvenile victims," Zheng said.

Meanwhile, prosecutors nationwide have taken steps to protect the rights of adolescent suspects and show leniency to juveniles convicted of minor offences in an effort to "educate and save" them.

Statistics from the SPP show that prosecutors exempted about 70,000 criminal suspects below the age of 18 from arrest from the beginning of 2013 to November 2017, or 28.7 percent of all minor suspects.

During the same period, more than 27,000 minors, or 8.9 percent of the total, were exempted from prosecution.