KEY POINTS:
China, which executes more criminals than the rest of the world combined, may show leniency to minor offenders, including poor people who steal "occasionally", as long as they don't hurt anyone.
Prosecutors have set new standards that sparing five categories of minor offenders on condition that their crimes cause "minimal social impact", says Xinhua news agency.
Those eligible for exemption from prosecution include people who occasionally steal because of poverty and do not injure their victims, juvenile and elderly suspects who act without malice and participants in "mass incidents" - jargon for protesters.
Suspects who confess and pay compensation to victims and are forgiven and those whose crimes stem from quarrels with neighbours, colleagues or classmates may also be spared.
The prisons are overcrowded and Chinese leaders have portrayed themselves as men of the people.
- Reuters
