China Concludes Year-Long Campaign Against Irregular Business Law Enforcement

China has concluded a sweeping year-long campaign to rectify irregular law enforcement practices targeting businesses, intensifying efforts to discipline local bureaucracies and improve governance. The initiative, which ended in March, uncovered more than 66,000 problematic administrative law enforcement cases.

Authorities announced that companies recovered 30.7 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion) as a result of the campaign. Additionally, over 300,000 unqualified law enforcement personnel were removed or reassigned, and more than 400,000 unnecessary enforcement items were eliminated nationwide.

The campaign focused on standardizing business-related administrative law enforcement, addressing official concerns that inconsistent and heavy-handed local practices were undermining legal consistency, weakening enforcement credibility, and hindering Beijing's goal of building a unified national market.

Officials highlighted that the campaign targeted long-standing issues faced by entrepreneurs and private businesses, including what they termed the "four disorders": arbitrary charges, excessive fines, abusive inspections, and unlawful seizures. These practices had increased operating burdens on companies and disrupted fair market order.