BEIJING - China's courts have acted to protect the rights of businesses and entrepreneurs by stepping up oversight of illicit cross-region and profit-driven law enforcement, said a work report of the Supreme People's Court.

This was done to "strictly prevent the misuse of criminal measures in economic disputes", said the report submitted Saturday to the national legislature's annual session for deliberation.

Summarizing its work over the past year, the top court said the move was part of the judiciary's efforts to "create a law-based business environment".

"The legitimate rights and interests of both state-owned and private businesses were equally protected, while their illegal and criminal activities were severely punished by law," the report read.

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The report noted that 46 cases involving property rights were retried and corrected by courts in 2024, and 13 out of 72 people involved in these cases were acquitted.

China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) also upheld the principle of equal protection for the lawful rights and interests of all types of business entities, while strengthening oversight over compulsory measures such as sealing, sequestering, and freezing of assets and handled 31 key cases last year, a work report of the SPP said Saturday.

As of February 2025, 21 of these cases had been resolved, releasing 610 million yuan ($85 million) in funds that had been sealed up, sequestered or frozen, according to the report.

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In 2025, Chinese procuratorates will continue carrying out targeted oversight on illicit cross-region and profit-driven law enforcement, according to the report.