(Yicai) Dec. 18 -- China has seen a surge in the income of local governments from fines and confiscations this year, so the country will pay attention to this abnormality and law enforcement actions by non-local agencies, reviewing relevant acts, according to the Chinese premier.

"Abuse of administrative discretion and unfair law enforcement still exist in some sectors and regions," Li Qiang said at a study session on accelerating the system of benchmarks for administrative discretion and standardizing the level of administrative law enforcement held by the State Council, China's cabinet, on Dec. 16.

"It is important to start with the issues that are of grave concern to the public and businesses, further improve the system of benchmarks for administrative discretion, and standardize the exercise of power," Li noted. "A special initiative will be launched in 2025 to regulate business-related law enforcement, aimed at continuing to improve the business environment, boost market confidence, and stabilize expectations."

China must strengthen law enforcement supervision, pay attention to the abnormal growth of fines and confiscation income, the many law enforcement actions by non-local government agencies, and large-scale fines of the highest amount allowed by law, Li said. Relevant law enforcement acts must be reviewed and promptly corrected if problems are found, he added.

Income from fines and confiscations are penalties collected by law enforcement agencies in accordance with the law, proceeds from the sale of confiscated materials and stolen goods, including general confiscation income from public security, transportation, taxation, courts, and market regulation, and anti-smuggling fines from pubic security and market regulation. For local governments, such income is a non-tax item under the general public budget, accounting for about 10 percent of the non-tax revenue.

China's non-tax revenue rose 17 percent to about CNY3.7 trillion (USD507.9 billion) in the 11 months ended Nov. 30 from a year earlier, according to data from the financial ministry. The growth rate was around 40 percent in October and last month.

Non-tax income has soared since the start of the year, mainly because local governments made efforts to dispose of idle assets and increase the vitality of resources and assets. However, according to data from some provinces, income from fines and confiscations in these regions also maintained double-digit growth.

From the perspective of local authorities, some say the reason for the surge in fines and confiscation income was that local courts made verdicts on major lawsuits involving hefty fines paid to local authorities. Others attributed it to the increasing income from fines and confiscations at local public security organs.

The abnormal growth has raised the vigilance of central government agencies.

The National Development and Reform Commission would give timely reminders to regions with abnormal income growth from fines and confiscations, Zheng Shanjie, head of the department, said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office in October, adding that it will carry out necessary inspections.

The next step by the finance ministry will be to closely track the changes in non-tax revenue, continuously standardize its management, and organize it in accordance with laws and regulations to ensure that all that must be taken is collected by law and not arbitrarily, preventing excessive tax collections, and effectively easing the burden on business entities.

Editors: Liao Shumin, Martin Kadiev