Beijing has revealed the sweeping scale of a year-long campaign targeting irregular law enforcement against businesses as the country intensified its efforts to discipline local bureaucracies and improve governance.
The Information Office of the State Council, China’s cabinet, said in a press briefing on May 21 that the campaign uncovered more than 66,000 problematic administrative law enforcement cases and helped companies to recover 30.7 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion).
Authorities said more than 300,000 unqualified law enforcement personnel were removed or reassigned, while over 400,000 unnecessary enforcement items were scrapped in the nationwide campaign, which ended in March.
The push to standardise business-related administrative law enforcement came amid mounting official concern that inconsistent and heavy-handed practices by local authorities were undermining legal consistency, weakening enforcement credibility and disrupting Beijing’s push to build a unified national market.
The campaign targeted issues that had long plagued entrepreneurs and private businesses, including what Beijing described as the “four disorders” in administrative enforcement.
These disorders – arbitrary charges, excessive fines, abusive inspections and unlawful seizures – had increased operating burdens on companies and undermined fair market order, officials said.
The campaign sought to curb “irregular cross-regional enforcement” and “profit-driven law enforcement” – in which local authorities pursued investigations or penalties beyond their jurisdictions, sometimes driven by fiscal pressures or revenue-generation incentives.
There were long-standing concerns over predatory local governance and inconsistent regulatory practices.
The campaign also came amid concerns over performance-driven enforcement by local authorities, particularly in fast-moving sectors where regulatory standards were unclear or under development, such as artificial intelligence.
Legal experts said that some local authorities were eager to pursue headline-grabbing cases in emerging industries as a way to show proactive enforcement.
The effort also formed part of a broader push by Beijing to improve the business environment and restore private-sector confidence, amid concerns that inconsistent and heavy-handed local enforcement practices were discouraging investment and weakening business sentiment, as the country faces economic headwinds.
“The campaign has produced tangible results, with some entrepreneurs saying business-related law enforcement has become more standardised and more measured, while the overall environment for development has also become more stable,” Hu Weilie, justice vice-minister, told the press briefing.
At the same time, Hu acknowledged that problems such as....
