Behind the storm of rectification in Muli Coalfield, Qinghai's richest man Xiao Yongming and others have been acquitted

Pengpai News reporter Tan Jun

On September 9th, A-share listed company Zangge Mining announced that its actual controller Xiao Yongming was found innocent in the illegal mining case by the People's Court of Chengxi District, Xining City, Qinghai Province. On August 25th, Zangge Mining had previously issued a notice disclosing that Xiao Yongming had been re tried and acquitted by the court. On September 9th, the notice emphasized that no appeal had been filed within the statutory appeal period, and the prosecution had not protested. The first instance judgment had taken effect.

Xiao Yongming, known as the "king of potassium fertilizer", has a wealth of over 10 billion yuan and is the richest person in Qinghai. Due to his identity as the actual controller of a listed company, he is required to disclose information related to criminal cases according to regulations, which has attracted media attention.

According to exclusive information from Pengpai News, 11 defendants, including Qinghai Coking Coal Industry Co., Ltd., former chairman of Qinghai Coking Coal Company Zheng Rongde, and multiple general managers, chief engineers, and deputy general managers, who were involved in the same case as Xiao Yongming, have also been acquitted during the retrial. In addition, another company that was investigated during the same period as Qinghai Coking Coal Company, Yima Coal Industry Group Qinghai Yihai Energy Co., Ltd. and its related responsible persons, were also acquitted or the prosecution withdrew their charges.

The illegal mining cases involving the two companies mentioned above were both caused by the illegal coal mining incident in the Muli coalfield at the southern foot of the Qilian Mountains, which shook the country three years ago, and the subsequent ecological remediation storm. However, in court, there was controversy over whether coal mining activities supported by the local government and issues such as "exploration instead of mining" constituted illegal mining crimes.

Screenshot of CCTV's report on the entire process of rectifying illegal coal mining in the Muli mining area

"When the court tried again, it was truthful and the truth was found out. The judgment set a sample for the protection of the rights and interests of private enterprises," said lawyer Cai Zhenghua, the defense counsel of Zheng Rongde, former chairman of Qinghai Coking Coal Company. Zangge Mining also stated in the announcement, "This judgment will also inspire greater confidence among private entrepreneurs and make their due contributions to the country and society."

Pengpai News also learned that during the ecological remediation storm in the Muli Coalfield, Qinghai Xingqing Industry and Trade Engineering Group Co., Ltd. and its controller Ma Shaowei, who were the first to be investigated, were severely punished by law. On August 19th this year, the second instance verdict of the Xining Intermediate People's Court in Qinghai Province upheld the first instance verdict against Ma Shaowei: he was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in prison for committing illegal mining and unit bribery, and was fined 6.3 million yuan. More than 900 million yuan of illegal gains from Xingqing Company controlled by Ma Shaowei have been recovered in accordance with the law.

Mudi Coalfield Rectification Storm: Vice Governor Surrender and "Invisible Rich Man" Punished

On May 16, 2023, in the 2023 New Fortune 500 Rich List released by New Fortune magazine, there was only one entrepreneur from Qinghai among the top 500 Chinese billionaires. He is Xiao Yongming.

Xiao Yongming has a wealth of over ten billion yuan and is known as the richest man in Qinghai. As the actual controller of A-share listed company Zangge Mining, he is also known as the "king of potassium fertilizer". However, the illegal mining case that led to Xiao Yongming's imprisonment was related to coal mining.

The background of the above-mentioned "illegal mining cases" can be traced back to 20 years ago.

In 2003, in the context of the Western Development, Qinghai began to attract investment and carry out mining in the Muli Coalfield. The Muli Coalfield is located at the junction of Tianjun County in Haixi Prefecture and Gangcha County in Haibei Prefecture, Qinghai Province. It is a resource gathering area in the Qilian Mountains coal rich belt and the only coking coal resource enrichment area in Qinghai Province. The coking coal under the permafrost of the plateau is a high-quality raw material for steelmaking, and the resource reserves of the Muli Coalfield reach 3.54 billion tons.

After years of mining in the Muli coalfield, the problem of ecological damage has attracted the attention of the central government. The website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission once pointed out that since 2014, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has issued important instructions to resolutely stop destructive mining in the Muli mining area. Some people have resorted to illegal coal mining in the Muli mining area for a long time, causing serious damage to the ecological environment.

On August 4, 2020, a heavyweight investigation report titled "Hidden richest man in Qinghai: illegal coal mining profits in Qilian Mountains have not stopped for billions until now" revealed that a private enterprise named Qinghai Xingqing Industry and Trade Engineering Group Co., Ltd. was engaged in predatory mining in the Juhugeng mining area of the Muli Coalfield in the southern foothills of Qilian Mountains under the guise of restoration and management. Over the past 14 years, it was suspected of illegally mining over 26 million tons of coal without a certificate, with profits exceeding 10 billion yuan, causing damage to the local ecology of the upstream source of the Yellow River, Qinghai Lake, and Qilian Mountains and rivers.

According to the People's Daily, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the National Supervisory Commission, the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, and other departments quickly established a "working group of relevant central departments to go to Qinghai" to conduct on-site investigations and rectification. Qinghai Province has launched the largest ecological remediation movement to date.

In September 2020, Wen Guodong, then Deputy Governor of Qinghai Province and Secretary of the Haixi Prefecture Party Committee, voluntarily surrendered. Before and after this, the Qinghai Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision conducted a review and investigation on 15 other provincial officials and below, and implemented detention measures.

At the same time, the public security organs of Qinghai Province are investigating the suspected illegal mining and other issues of Qinghai Xingqing Industry and Trade Engineering Group Co., Ltd. Ma Shaowei, the legal representative of the company and known as the "hidden richest man" of Qinghai, has been taken compulsory measures by the police.

Three years have passed, and Wen Guodong, Ma Shaowei, and Xingqing Company have successively been severely punished by the law.

According to public information, on March 29, 2022, the First Intermediate People's Court of Chongqing publicly announced in the first instance that Wen Guodong, a former member of the Party Group and Deputy Governor of Qinghai Province, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for committing the crime of bribery. On December 30, 2022, Liang Yanguo, former member of the Standing Committee of the Haixi Prefecture Committee of Qinghai Province, former Deputy Governor of the Haixi Prefecture Government, former Executive Deputy Secretary of the Chaidamu Circular Economy Experimental Zone, and former Deputy Director of the Management Committee, was sentenced to 14 years in prison by the Xining Intermediate People's Court on charges of bribery and abuse of power in the first instance.

One of Liang Yanguo's crimes was that in May 2018, he took advantage of his position as a member of the Standing Committee and Deputy Governor of the Haixi Prefecture Committee in Qinghai Province, as well as the Deputy Director of the Chaidamu Circular Economy Pilot Zone Management Committee, to help Qinghai Xingqing Industry and Trade Engineering Group Co., Ltd. pass the "Optimization Plan for Slope Treatment of the No. 5 Mining Pit in the Juhugeng Mining Area of the Muli Coalfield". Xingqing Company, under the pretext of mine restoration and management, engaged in illegal mining in the Muli Mining Area, causing serious damage to the ecological environment and significant losses to national interests, resulting in adverse social impacts.

Pengpai News learned that on August 19th this year, the Xining Intermediate People's Court upheld the first instance verdict against Ma Shaowei: he was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in prison for the combined crime of illegal mining and unit bribery, and was fined 6.3 million yuan. The illegal gains of over 900 million yuan controlled by Xingqing Company have been recovered in accordance with the law.

According to the court's ruling, Xingqing Company illegally mined raw coal worth over 5.9 billion yuan and illegally obtained profits of 879 million yuan from October 2006 to July 2020. After 2014, in accordance with the national ecological protection and construction arrangements, the People's Government of Qinghai Province requested to increase the environmental remediation efforts in the Muli mining area and resolutely stop mining for mines with incomplete procedures. However, Xingqing Company still continued to mine and sell raw coal under the name of "slope treatment" to obtain illegal benefits.

The court also found that from 2016 to 2020, Ma Shaowei and others artificially tried to win over the relationship, in order to help Xingqing Company gain benefits, receive assistance, and provide gratitude, and gave a total of more than 13.9 million yuan in property to Wen Guodong, then Secretary of the Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Committee of Qinghai Province, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of the Chaidamu Circular Economy Experimental Zone, Deputy Governor Liang Yanguo, and Li Yongping, full-time deputy director of the Chaidamu Circular Economy Experimental Zone Management Committee and director of the Muli Coal Management Bureau. Among them, over 12.16 million yuan was given to Wen Guodong alone.

Zheng Rongde, Xiao Yongming, and others were declared innocent.

Investigation: Multiple companies including Qinghai Coking Coal have been investigated, and "Qinghai's richest man" and others have been implicated

According to relevant judgment documents, several companies and their responsible persons, including Qinghai Coking Coal Company, were also investigated during the Muli Coalfield rectification storm.

On September 8, 2020, Zheng Rongde, former legal representative and chairman of Qinghai Coking Coal Company, was arrested by the police. More than 10 people, including the General Manager, Chief Engineer, Deputy General Manager, and Mine Manager of Qinghai Coking Coal Company, have been criminally detained on suspicion of committing illegal mining crimes. On January 29, 2021, Xiao Yongming, who had previously served as the Vice Chairman of Qinghai Coking Coal Company, was also arrested in connection with the case.

"In fact, during the environmental remediation carried out in 2014, Xiao Yongming had withdrawn from Qinghai Coking Coal Company, which also invested funds in environmental remediation according to the government's requirements. Zheng Rongde's shares in Qinghai Coking Coal held by East China Electric were later transferred to a third party. The mining involved by Qinghai Coking Coal Company is not the same as the continued illegal mining supervised by the media in August 2020." Cai Zhenghua, the defender of Zheng Rongde and lawyer of Beijing Yingke Law Firm, said.

It is reported that in 2003, at the beginning of the investment promotion in Muli Coalfield, Zheng Rongde, the head of Shanghai East China Electric Appliance Group, accompanied a delegation to Qinghai for inspection and quickly finalized the investment in mining coal resources in Qinghai. In April 2004, East China Electric Appliance Group and Shanghai Hongzhu Materials Co., Ltd. jointly invested and registered Qinghai Coking Coal Company, with Zheng Rongde serving as the legal representative. Three months later, the government of Haixi Prefecture signed a Coal Project Cooperation Agreement with East China Electric Appliance Group and Shanghai Hongzhu Company to jointly develop coal resources projects within Haixi Prefecture, agreeing to a total investment of 460 million yuan for the project, which will be completed and put into operation within three years; The first party agrees and supports the second party to develop coal resources within the territory of the first party, and is fully responsible for coordinating relevant matters during the development, ensuring the interests and legitimate rights and interests of the second party.

On January 14, 2005, the Qinghai Provincial Department of Land and Resources decided to transfer the exploration rights of the second well field in the Jiangcang mining area to Qinghai Coking Coal Company. On March 25th of the same year, Qinghai Coking Coal Company registered and obtained the exploration certificate for the second well field in Jiangcang Coal Mine Area, Tianjun County, Qinghai Province.

In April 2006, Xiao Yongming acquired 100% equity of Shanghai Hongzhu Materials Co., Ltd. and became a shareholder of Qinghai Coking Coal Company, briefly serving as the vice chairman.

A few years later, in April 2011, Shanghai Hongzhu Company transferred its 40% equity in Qinghai Coking Coal Company to Zhenpeng Yuxiao Industrial Development Co., Ltd. and withdrew from Qinghai Coking Coal Company. In September 2012, East China Electric Appliances Group transferred its 58% equity stake in Qinghai Coking Coal Company to Zhenpeng Yuxiao Company and also withdrew from Qinghai Coking Coal Company.

However, Qinghai Coking Coal Company, along with Zheng Rongde, Xiao Yongming, and others, were ultimately charged with illegal mining and brought to court.

Announcement of Cangge Mining Co., Ltd

Controversy: Does government support for coal mining and "exploration instead of mining" constitute the crime of illegal mining

The prosecution alleges that on March 25, 2005, although Qinghai Coking Coal Company obtained an exploration and exploration permit for the second well field in the Jiangcang coal mine area, from October 2006 to July 2014, without obtaining a mining permit, it violated the provisions of the Mineral Resources Law by illegally mining coal resources in the second well field of the Jiangcang coal mine area using the "exploration instead of mining" method and selling them. Despite multiple administrative penalties imposed by relevant provincial and county management departments, Qinghai Coking Coal Company has never ceased its illegal mining activities, resulting in serious damage to mineral resources. According to the audit, from October 2006 to July 2014, Qinghai Coking Coal Company illegally extracted 7.73 million tons of coal resources, sold 7.63 million tons, and the total sales amount exceeded 3.6 billion yuan.

The prosecution believes that criminal responsibility for illegal mining should be pursued against Qinghai Coking Coal Company and its former chairman Zheng Rongde, former vice chairman Xiao Yongming, former general managers Wang Jianping, Lin Haifan, former chief engineer Zhao Gang, former general manager and deputy general managers Wu Changyi, Qiu Xiaowei, Zou Weidong, Huang Zhen, former mine managers Ma Decheng, Yan Hong, and other responsible personnel.

In the first instance court, multiple defendants did not defend themselves against the charges, and two defendants acknowledged the fact of unlicensed mining but did not consider it illegal; As the defendant unit, Qinghai Coking Coal Company and the first defendant Zheng Rongde insist that it does not constitute the crime of illegal mining. Regarding whether the coal mining behavior required by the government and the issue of "exploration instead of mining" constitute illegal mining crimes in the sense of criminal law, most of the defendants' lawyers have pleaded not guilty.

Pengpai News learned that the defense opinion that the case should be treated as innocent focuses on several aspects:

1. The mining of Qinghai Coking Coal Company is aimed at completing the coal production tasks assigned by the government in advance. At the same time, all levels of government and their constituent departments have agreed to approve gunpowder and require reporting of coal production, and have given explicit or implicit requirements and rewards such as assessment and commendation at the end of the year. All of these make Qinghai Coking Coal Company's behavior not classified as "unauthorized" mining behavior as stipulated in Article 343 of the Criminal Law.

2. Since its establishment, Qinghai Coking Coal Company has actively cooperated with the government's administrative management of coal mining in the Muli mining area. Prior to obtaining the license, it had already met the substantive conditions for obtaining a mining permit, which did not affect the core legal interests that the normal mining management order of the national mineral resources needs to protect. Unlike the black coal mines that engage in illegal mining, the coal production and sales activities of Qinghai Coking Coal Company are not conducted privately, but have entered the normal operation of the coal industry and regional economy according to the planning of the Qinghai Provincial Government. Most of the coal produced is sold to local enterprises in Qinghai, supporting local economic construction and meeting the coal consumption needs of the national economy and daily life.

3. Zheng Rongde and Qinghai Coking Coal Company have been continuously preparing and actively submitting application materials for mining licenses to relevant departments during their operation period, without actively pursuing unlicensed mining results. The reason why the mining certificate was not obtained at the beginning was mainly because the Qinghai Provincial Government implemented a resource integration policy, which resulted in the coking coal company losing the right to apply independently.

The relevant background is that, in order to promote the standardized and orderly development of the Muli Coalfield, Qinghai Province has issued a major policy adjustment. In accordance with the requirement of one mining area being developed by one entity, Qinghai Muli Coal Industry Development Group Co., Ltd. has been approved for establishment. The company was established and registered on November 16, 2010, and is 100% owned by Qinghai State owned Assets Investment Management Co., Ltd. As the only development entity of coal resources within the overall planning scope of the Muli Coalfield mining area, it has restructured six development enterprises, including Qinghai Coking Coal Company.

On September 6, 2012, Muli Coal Industry Group and Qinghai Coking Coal Company signed an agreement, agreeing that Muli Coal Industry Group would be the main applicant for the mining rights certificate of the second well in the Jiangcang mining area of Muli Coalfield. Qinghai Coking Coal Company shall bear all the application costs and pay the management fees according to the confirmed resource reserves in the second well field. On July 31, 2014, Muli Coal Industry Group registered as the mining rights holder and obtained the mining rights certificate for the second well field in Jiangcang mining area.

"Qinghai Coking Coal Company subjectively did not have the intention to engage in illegal mining, and objectively did not engage in unauthorized mining behavior, which does not constitute the crime of illegal mining." In court, multiple defense lawyers believed that this case should not be dealt with through criminal means, but should be acquitted.

Three twists and turns: After being convicted in the first trial, the Intermediate People's Court remands the case and the entire case is not guilty in a retrial

However, the "special policy background" was not adopted by the first instance court as a reason for the crime.

On June 30, 2022, the People's Court of Chengxi District, Xining City made a first instance judgment on the Qinghai Coking Coal case, determining that Qinghai Coking Coal Company engaged in illegal mining by mining and selling coal without obtaining a mining license; Each defendant actively organized and carried out illegal mining activities, or actively participated in coal mining and sales management activities, all of which constituted the crime of illegal mining. Therefore, Qinghai Coking Coal Company was fined 10 million yuan; The defendant Zheng Rongde was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison and fined 3 million yuan; Xiao Yongming was sentenced to 3 years in prison, suspended for 3 years, and fined 2 million yuan. The remaining 9 defendants were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 2 years and 6 months to 1 year and 4 months, and were also fined.

Several defendants, including Qinghai Coking Coal Company and Zheng Rongde, were dissatisfied and appealed.

On July 21, 2023, one year later, the Intermediate People's Court of Xining City ruled in the second instance to revoke the original judgment and remand it for retrial. On August 24, 2023, the People's Court of Chengxi District, Xining City, after a retrial, finally changed the verdict to "not guilty of the entire case".

The court believes that although Qinghai Coking Coal Company engaged in "exploration instead of mining" behavior before obtaining a mining license, as the actual mining rights holder of Erjingtian, its mining behavior did not exceed the mining area scope defined by the exploration and mining rights. Due to government requirements for mining licenses to be uniformly applied for by integrated companies, mining area enterprises not allowed to apply on their own, enterprise integration, policy adjustments, and other reasons, they were unable to obtain mining licenses in a timely manner. However, Qinghai Coking Coal Company did not conceal the fact of coal mining. Enterprise integration, production and operation, land approval, pyrotechnic device approval, and tax payment were all carried out under government guidance and supervision. Qinghai Coking Coal Company's mining behavior was not unauthorized mining without permission.

Meanwhile, during the mining process, Qinghai Coking Coal Company did not intentionally refuse or avoid obtaining a mining license, but actively applied for a mining license. Due to objective reasons such as enterprise integration, the main body of the license application was the integrated company, and Qinghai Coking Coal Company did not have the right to independently apply for a mining license, so it was not able to apply for a mining license before 2014. Although Qinghai Coking Coal Company has not obtained a mining license, government functional departments have tacitly allowed it to integrate enterprises and develop coal resources through administrative contracts, document minutes, and other means. Although they have repeatedly emphasized the prohibition of unlicensed mining and the use of exploration instead of mining, and have imposed multiple administrative penalties, they have not substantially taken measures to shut down the coal mine. Later, in July 2014, a mining license was issued, which can prove that Qinghai Coking Coal Company has the conditions to apply for a mining license, and its mining behavior was carried out under the "tacit approval" of the government and relevant departments. The administrative actions of the government and relevant departments have given Qinghai Coking Coal Company reasonable trust. Subjectively, the "exploration instead of mining" behavior was a legal and illegal understanding error in the situation at that time, and subjectively, it is not illegal. Intentional mining.

Therefore, the court ruled that Qinghai Coking Coal Company did not constitute the crime of illegal mining, and Zheng Rongde, Xiao Yongming, Wang Jianping, Lin Haifan, Zhao Gang, Qiu Xiaowei, Zou Weidong, Ma Decheng, Wu Changyi, Yan Hong, and Huang Zhen who had previously worked at Qinghai Coking Coal Company also did not constitute the crime of illegal mining.

Court correction: The retrial judgment has set a sample for the protection of the rights and interests of private enterprises

In addition to the acquittal of the entire case of Qinghai Coking Coal Company, Pengpai News learned that the state-owned enterprise Yima Coal Industry Group Qinghai Yihai Energy Co., Ltd. and its related responsible persons who were investigated at the same time as Qinghai Coking Coal Company were also acquitted or the prosecution withdrew the case.

According to relevant legal documents, similar to Qinghai Coking Coal Company, on October 24, 2020, Ma Shusheng, former chairman of Qinghai Yihai Company, was arrested on suspicion of illegal mining. Several former general managers and deputy general managers of Yihai Company were also arrested in the same case.

Unlike the "exploration instead of mining" strategy of the coking coal company, Yihai Company has been accused of "cross-border mining". The prosecution alleges that from December 2010 to December 2016, Tianjun Yihai Company, under the management of Yihai Company, violated relevant provisions of the Mineral Resources Law by illegally mining coal resources beyond its boundaries, with a total sales amount of over 7.71 million tons and over 3.7 billion yuan.

Pengpai News learned that during the court trial of the case, on July 19, 2023, the prosecution withdrew the charges against the defendant Tianjun Yihai Company and the defendants Gao Jingjie, Du Dongjian, Wang Hongwei, Xu Jingmin, and Hao Jinshan, citing other circumstances where criminal responsibility should not be pursued. On July 26, 2023, the People's Court of Chengxi District, Xining City ruled in the first instance that Qinghai Yihai Company and the former chairman or general manager of Qinghai Yihai Company, Ma Shusheng, Li Lingjie, and Hou Liuyue, were not guilty.

"Pedestrians who have been commanded by the police to pass red lights are not punishable," said Wang Xibin, a lawyer from Beijing and a defense lawyer for Du Dongjian. The mining behavior involved was carried out by the provincial, municipal, and county governments of Qinghai Province with complete knowledge and effective management, and received support, assistance, and encouragement from the governments at all levels in Qinghai. Since "cross-border mining" is a production behavior supported by the government, the principle of government trust should be applied to determine innocence.

"The principle of government trust, also known as the principle of protecting trust interests, refers to the situation where an individual's administrative penalty against an administrative agency has already generated trust interests, and this trust interest is protected due to its legitimacy, the administrative agency cannot revoke this trust interest. If revoked, it must compensate for the loss of trust interest. Because, the government must also be honest and trustworthy when implementing administrative actions," said Wang Xibin.

Pengpai News has noticed that in recent years, various regions have carried out special treatments related to mining, resulting in a significant increase in the number of illegal mining cases. The crime of illegal mining, as the main charge related to the crime of destroying mineral resources in China's criminal law, has also received high attention from the academic community in terms of legislative interpretation and judicial application.

Famous criminologist Zhou Guangquan published "Key Issues on the Crime of Illegal Mining" in the fourth issue of "Sino Foreign Law" in 2022. The article states, "Due to the strict approval of mining rights licenses in administrative management, there is an impulse in judicial practice to only determine the crime of illegal mining based on administrative violations. This situation of abandoning the inherent illegality of criminal law for judgment urgently needs to be changed."

The article mentions, "In individual cases, it is necessary to combine the fact that the defendant's unlicensed mining behavior has consulted the mineral resources regulatory authority in advance or has been recognized or supported by local governments and relevant regulatory authorities for a long time, to determine that the perpetrator's illegal understanding is inevitable and lacks the possibility of understanding the illegality of this crime, in order to exclude their responsibility."

On December 8, 2022, Professor Hou Yanfang from the School of Criminal Law at East China University of Political Science and Law published an article in the People's Court Daily titled "Difficulties in Judicial Determination of Illegal Mining Crimes", stating that in the absence of substantial damage to mineral resource ownership, criminal responsibility for mining activities should not be pursued due to the lack of mining permits during the transition period from exploration rights to mining rights. For mining activities that occur during the transition period from exploration rights to mining rights, the criminal justice policy of "less arrest, cautious prosecution, and cautious detention" should be implemented, and compliance measures should be used to urge the involved mineral enterprises to make compliance commitments and actively rectify.

On July 14th this year, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the Opinions on Promoting the Development and Growth of the Private Economy, which put forward general requirements for promoting the development and growth of the private economy. The opinions are clear, "protecting the property rights of private enterprises and the rights and interests of entrepreneurs in accordance with the law", preventing and correcting the use of administrative or criminal means to intervene in economic disputes, as well as local protectionism in law enforcement and judiciary Improve the mechanisms for appeals and retrials of enterprise related cases, and establish effective prevention and normalized correction mechanisms for wrongful cases.

"In the storm of environmental remediation, seeking truth from facts and not wronging innocent people. The retrial judgment of the Chengxi District Court has set a sample for the protection of the rights and interests of private enterprises," said Cai Zhenghua. Zangge Mining also stated in the announcement, "This judgment will also inspire greater confidence among private entrepreneurs and make their due contributions to the country and society."