"Minors, who are suspected of committing crimes but are not old enough for criminal responsibility, should not be allowed to 'let go' and must be punished and corrected according to law," said Shi Weidong, head of the ninth procuratorate of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), during a press conference on Friday.
Shi suggested to further improve the protection of minors' rights and crime prevention mechanism, calling on families, schools, and society to eliminate root causes for minors to commit crimes.
"We should also establish and improve the system of graded intervention for juvenile delinquents," he added.
The SPP is studying whether reducing the age of criminal responsibility can solve the problem of juvenile delinquency. It will be submitting its opinions to the legislature in response to public concerns over the issue.
