Students run around the Heping Primary School in Yaohai district of Hefei, East China's Anhui Province, holding new textbooks they have just received. Photo: IC

The brutal bullying and murder of a 13-year-old boy in Handan, North China's Hebei Province, has triggered a profound reflection on juvenile crime in Chinese society, of which experts noted that the root cause lies in the lack of family education and school supervision, with many cases involving left-behind children. 

In Guizhou, one of the provinces which have a large population of left-behind children in the country, a video teleconference was held on Tuesday on strengthening protection work for minors. 

According to Guizhou Daily, Shi Guanghui, deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Guizhou Provincial Committee, urged during the conference to focus on key groups of left-behind children, migrant children and children in difficult circumstances, get a full picture of their comprehensive situation and the number, and further increase efforts in care and protection of the children and implement support measures. 

Shi urged the need to strengthen the protection from the family, school and community, enhance internet-based protection, and comprehensively fortify the defense for the protection of minors. Shi also urged to reinforce the social support system and accelerate the filling of gaps in the protection of minors. 

Shi also required to adhere to the combination of punishment and prevention and adopt a "zero tolerance" attitude to severely crack down on crimes against minors, effectively preventing juvenile crime at its source. 

In Sichuan, another province with a large population of left-behind children, a meeting was convened on March 14 to promote the special campaign to crack down on and rectify crimes against minors, the Sichuan Daily reported. 

The meeting emphasized the need to continue conducting thorough investigations, strengthening comprehensive analysis and judgment, and ensuring a clear understanding of various risks and hidden dangers. Besides, the meeting stressed to adhere to strict law enforcement, strengthen cooperation and coordination, and form combined strength in combating crimes, thereby ensuring meticulous protection of the legitimate rights and interests of minors.

Efforts should be made to fully eliminate law enforcement blind spots and regulatory dead ends, and effectively eradicate the soil for crimes involving minors, according to the meeting. 

Efforts should be continuously made to improve publicity and education and persistently foster a favorable social atmosphere for the care and protection of minors. 

In Yunnan, the provincial authority highlighted the importance of the protection of minors and crackdown on crimes against minors during a meeting held on March 13. 

Officials emphasized the need to strengthen organization and leadership, fostering a collaborative work pattern of top-down coordination and horizontal cooperation, prioritizing prevention, intervention, and correction, and implementing precise measures to effectively prevent and address crimes involving minors. 

Global Times