More criminal defendants in China shown leniency

BEIJING -- During the last two years, an increasing proportion of criminal cases were handled under a system of pleas for leniency, said Chinese authorities.

Among all criminal defendants prosecuted from January to October this year, 83.27 percent went under this system to receive lenient penalties for admitting their guilt and accepting punishments, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP).

Among these cases, the court adopted 93.47 percent of the proposed sentences by procuratorial organs, the SPP said, adding that, from January 2019 to October this year, 89.52 percent of the sentencing proposals were adopted.

The rate of adopted sentencing proposals was also increasing, said the SPP.

In 2016, China started the pilot reform of imposing lenient penalties on those who admit their guilt and accept punishments in Beijing and 17 other regions.