Chinese prison funding no longer relies on enterprises: official

The profits of prison-run enterprises no longer act as the primary financial source for Chinese prisons, Minister of Justice Wu Aiying said Wednesday.

Funding for China's prisons is now mainly provided by central and provincial government spending, Wu said.

Public spending on the country's prison system in 2011 accounted for 87.9 percent of the prisons' total expenses that year, she said.

Wu made the remarks during a report to legislators at the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

According to Wu, China currently has 1.64 million prisoners in 681 prisons nationwide. The prisons are staffed by a total of 300,000 corrections officers.