Prison reform will go nationwide this year, with a special focus on the relocation of remote facilities and the separation of prison-run businesses from regular operations, Minister of Justice Wu Aiying has said.
To date, 14 provinces and municipalities have completed pilot reforms, Wu told an annual work conference on Wednesday in Beijing.
She said the ministry used the lessons learned during the pilot phase to draw up the Guidelines on Fully Implementing Prison Reform Nationwide, which recently got the nod from the State Council.
She said the ministry will soon meet to launch the reform drive at all prisons.
Sources with the ministry's prison management bureau said last week that nearly 300 of the country's more than 700 prisons had relocated by the end of last year.
The prison network was planned around the time New China was founded in 1949, and does not reflect the economic and social changes that have taken place over the decades.
The State Council first started regulating locations of prisons in 2001.
In 2006, the Ministry of Justice joined four other ministries in issuing a notice calling for the renovation and expansion of some existing prisons, the relocation or closure of others and the construction of more new facilities.
The central government has created several preferential policies governing funding, land use and fees to ensure the relocation part of the plan is wrapped up by 2010.
The idea is to move some remote prisons to the outskirts of cities or areas with convenient transport infrastructure.
It is hoped the move will facilitate the education and reform of prisoners, as well as improve the performance of guards, Han Yusheng, vice-president of the China Prison Research Association, said.
In the past, many prisons were tucked away in the mountains, making it difficult for relatives and volunteer social workers to visit.
Moving prisons closer to cities will also give guards easier access to educational and training opportunities.
Han said another core part of prison reform is to separate enterprises from prisons.
"There are two solutions: Either we invite people from outside of the prison system to set up businesses within prisons, or we take the prisoners out to work for contracted factories," Han told China Daily.
Some pilot reform programs have achieved good results, he said, but others are still lagging.
"It will take a long time before prisons accept the idea of separating businesses from their regular operations," Han said.
Source: China Daily
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