China's top prosecuting body on August 26 announced new measures to stem judicial corruption in granting parole or commutation of prison terms.

Under the regulation released by the Supreme People's Procuratorate, prosecutors will launch "full-scale investigation and verification" over a criminal's qualifications if their sentence is reduced by a significant margin or they are placed on long-term parole.

Prosecutors will particularly target those found guilty of corruption and mafia-style or terrorist crimes, among other serious criminal offences. People who have committed serious economic crimes such as fraud, or other crimes with "severe social impacts" are also subject to the examination.

Prosecutors will also focus on suspicious sentence commutations. They will check carefully if a prisoner only serves a short prison term before getting a commutation, or if they are given frequent commutations or parole.