CHINA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Haitao (Harry) Liu, King & Wood Mallesons
(the “Regulations”) is the most important legal source on jurisdiction with regard to criminal investigations. Articles 15 and 16 of the Regulations provide that crim - inal cases shall be under the jurisdiction of the pub - lic security authority of the place of the crime, which includes the places where a criminal act occurred (eg, the preparatory/starting/transiting/ending place) and where the results of a crime were felt (eg, the places where the victim of the crime is infringed upon and where the criminal proceeds are obtained/hidden/ transferred/used/sold), and may be under the juris - diction of the public security authority of the place where the criminal suspect resides (ie, their registered and habitual residence) if it is more appropriate. If any law, judicial interpretation or other normative docu - ment makes any special provisions on the jurisdiction of criminal cases, such provisions shall prevail. Article 17 of the Regulations further provides that where a crime is committed against or mainly through computer networks, the public security authority of the location of (i) the server used for the network service to carry out the criminal act, (ii) the network service provider, (iii) the network information system that has been infringed and its manager, and (iv) the network information system used by the criminal sus - pect or victim during the criminal process, in addition to the place where the victim was infringed upon and where the victim’s property was damaged, may have jurisdiction. The direct result of applying the above jurisdictional provisions in reality is the police can carry out law enforcement activities whenever even a minimal nexus with their jurisdiction exists and regardless of where the suspect resides or or the most important part of a crime occurs. There is therefore a risk that police in less economically developed regions might take advantage of such provisions as the legal ground on which to pursue companies in more economically developed regions; motivated by the possible dis - gorging of illicit gains and the opportunity to impose hefty fines. For a long time, this practice has disrupted company operations, brought injustice and outraged both the the legal industry and the wider public in China.
In order to stabilise the market, prevent the economy from sliding further downward and boost the confi - dence of private enterprises, in March 2025 the Min - istry of Public Security issued the Regulations on the Jurisdiction of Cross-Provincial Criminal Cases Involving Enterprises of Public Security Authorities, in which the Ministry of Public Security narrowed down the jurisdiction to – largely – the key place where the crime occurred or the place where the suspect’s resi - dence is registered. Where an enterprise from another province sets up a branch in this province, the public security authority at the location of the branch may have jurisdiction over such branch with respect to the crime committed by this branch. The new jurisdiction - al overhaul applies to companies being investigated and also applies to cases where the actual controller, legal representative or controlling shareholder of the enterprise, as well as directors, supervisors and senior management personnel, are being investigated due to their conduct of the company’s operations. The new regulation has strongly deterred and largely rectified the unjustified law enforcement actions that had been a problem for years and were driven by the hope of financial gain rather than criminal justice. Strengthened Stance Against Crimes in Specific Fields General introduction Since 2024, a series of judicial interpretations have been jointly or separately issued by the Supreme Peo - ple’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and some other government authorities on punishing crimes related to, inter alia, stock markets, tax collec - tion and money laundering. Certainly, anti-corruption is a never-ending topic for law enforcement authori - ties. These judicial interpretations include: • Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Han - dling of Securities and Futures Criminal and Illegal Cases; and • Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Endangering Collection and Administration of Taxes; and • Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Money Laundering.
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