According to the WeChat official account of the Supreme People's Court, recently, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Punishing Property Infringement Crimes in the Field of Water Transport and Logistics according to Law (Fa Fa [2026] No. 3, hereinafter referred to as the Opinions). The Opinion strictly adheres to the provisions of the Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law, and relevant judicial interpretations to comprehensively regulate the legal application and policy grasp of property infringement crimes in the field of water transportation logistics. It emphasizes the punishment of property infringement crimes in the field of water transportation logistics in accordance with the law, fully and accurately implements the criminal policy of balancing leniency and severity, and resolutely safeguards the vital interests of the people. The Opinion adheres to a problem oriented approach, based on the characteristics of property infringement crimes in the field of water transportation logistics, and provides clear guidance for law enforcement and case handling on typical issues such as the application of charges, jurisdiction rules, evidence collection, amount determination, and handling of involved property in practice. The Opinion also adheres to systematic governance, based on the combination of punishment and prevention, and puts forward work requirements for promoting industry governance and strengthening legal publicity and education in law enforcement and case handling. It emphasizes the creation of a good legal and social environment for the high-quality development of water transportation logistics through the improvement of long-term mechanisms. Next, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security will work together to implement the "Opinions", continuously strengthen the legal punishment and comprehensive governance of property infringement crimes in the field of water transportation logistics, effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the people and market entities, ensure the safe and smooth operation of water transportation logistics, and serve to promote the high-quality development of inland waterway transportation. The full text is as follows: Notice of the Supreme People's Court and the Public Security Department of the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Issuing the Guiding Opinions on Punishing Property Infringement Crimes in the Field of Water Transport Logistics in accordance with the Law (Fa Fa Fa [2026] No. 3): To punish property infringement crimes in the field of water transport logistics in accordance with the law, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security jointly formulated the Guiding Opinions on Punishing Property Infringement Crimes in the Field of Water Transport Logistics in accordance with the law. It is now issued, please implement it conscientiously in combination with the actual situation. Major issues encountered during execution should be reported separately to the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security. On February 9, 2026, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Public Security Department of the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued the Guiding Opinions on Punishing Property Infringement Crimes in the Field of Water Transport Logistics in accordance with the law. In order to punish property infringement crimes in the field of water transport logistics in accordance with the law, effectively maintain the continuous safety and stability of domestic river water areas, and based on the provisions of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, and relevant judicial interpretations, combined with practical work, this opinion is formulated. 1、 Overall requirement: 1. Punish property infringement crimes in the field of water transportation logistics in accordance with the law. Property infringement crimes in the field of water transportation logistics refer to property infringement crimes that occur during the transportation, loading and unloading, storage, and distribution of goods from the supply location to the receiving location via inland waterways. This type of crime has the characteristics of cross regional, mobile, and covert, seriously infringing on national and people's property security, hindering the healthy and orderly development of inland waterway economy, and should be punished according to law. People's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs should implement the overall national security concept, adhere to the people-centered approach, adhere to systematic governance, rule of law governance, comprehensive governance, and source governance, strictly and fairly administer justice, make every effort to recover stolen assets and damages, effectively safeguard high-quality development, and resolutely safeguard the vital interests of the people. 2. Fully and accurately implement the criminal policy of balancing leniency and severity. When handling criminal cases of property infringement in the field of water transportation logistics, it is necessary to comprehensively judge the degree of responsibility of the perpetrator based on their subjective malice, criminal circumstances, status, and role, and strictly pursue criminal responsibility in accordance with the law. For organizations, commanders, planners, and active participants who directly commit criminal acts, as well as those who have been criminally punished for property infringement crimes in the field of water transportation logistics and have committed such crimes, they shall be severely punished in accordance with the law. For personnel employed to participate in activities such as cargo transportation, loading and unloading, and supervision, the severity of responsibility should be comprehensively judged and investigated in accordance with the subjective malice, criminal circumstances, status, and role of the perpetrator; For those who have not participated in the distribution of criminal proceeds and have not received significantly higher remuneration than labor services, they are generally not held criminally responsible and may be subject to public security management penalties by the public security organs in accordance with the law. For those who actively cooperate with the investigation, voluntarily return stolen goods and compensation, and sincerely confess and repent, they may be punished leniently according to law; Those with minor circumstances may be exempted from punishment; If the circumstances are significantly minor and the harm is not significant, it shall not be treated as a crime. For those who are not prosecuted or exempted from criminal punishment for carrying out relevant acts and need to be given administrative penalties, administrative sanctions or other sanctions, they shall be transferred to the relevant competent authorities for handling in accordance with the law. 2、 Accurately applying the law 3. The qualitative determination of illegal possession of other people's goods in water transportation, logistics transportation, storage and other links should be judged from the aspects of whether the perpetrator had actual control over the goods before implementing the relevant actions, and the means of action taken. For the purpose of illegal possession, stealing goods under the supervision of escorts or monitored by means of physical and technological defense, in accordance with Article 264 of the Criminal Law, shall be convicted and punished for theft. The qualitative determination of illegal possession of goods by others in the loading, unloading, and delivery of water transportation logistics should be based on the main means adopted by the perpetrator and whether the victim has disposed of the property. For those who steal goods from others for the purpose of illegal possession, using methods such as setting up hidden compartments, closing valves in advance, and adulteration, in accordance with Article 264 of the Criminal Law, they shall be convicted and punished for theft. 4. State officials or personnel entrusted by state organs, state-owned companies, enterprises, institutions, or people's organizations to manage and operate state-owned property who, taking advantage of their positions, illegally take possession of goods managed, used, or transported by their own units in the process of water transportation logistics, in accordance with Article 382 and Article 383 of the Criminal Law, shall be convicted and punished for the crime of corruption. Employees of transportation, warehousing and other companies, enterprises or other units who commit the acts mentioned in the preceding paragraph and comply with the provisions of Article 271 (1) of the Criminal Law shall be convicted and punished for the crime of embezzlement. Personnel responsible for inspection, measurement, and other related work who collude with personnel from transportation, warehousing companies, enterprises, or other units to illegally occupy the property of the unit shall be punished for joint crimes. 5. If the perpetrator intentionally commits the acts stipulated in Article 3 and Article 4 of this opinion and fabricates the fact of goods loss, even if the amount of the crime is within the pre agreed scope of goods loss, criminal responsibility shall be pursued in accordance with the law. 6. Those who knowingly conceal, transfer, purchase, sell on behalf of, or use other methods to disguise or conceal goods and their proceeds that are the proceeds of crime, in accordance with Article 312 of the Criminal Law, shall be convicted and punished for the crime of concealing or concealing criminal proceeds and their proceeds. Those who conspire in advance to commit the crimes specified in the preceding paragraph shall be punished as joint offenders. 7. Those who commit property infringement crimes in water transport logistics transportation, loading and unloading, storage, distribution and other links, and also constitute other crimes such as dangerous operations, dangerous goods accidents, environmental pollution, etc., shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions of heavier punishment. 8. Cases of property infringement crimes in the field of water transportation logistics shall be filed and investigated by the public security organs in the place of the crime. If it is more appropriate for the public security organ of the suspect's residence to file a case for investigation, it may be filed for investigation by the public security organ of the suspect's residence. The place of crime includes the place where the property infringement occurred and the place where the result occurred. The place where the infringement of property occurred includes the place where the infringement of property was committed, as well as the places where the goods were loaded, unloaded, and the ship passed through anchorages; If there is a continuous or ongoing state of property infringement, the relevant areas belong to the place where the property infringement occurred. The place where the infringement of property occurred includes the actual place of acquisition, transfer, sale, etc. of the goods, as well as the place where the victim's loss of goods occurred. 9. For property infringement crimes committed in the field of water transportation logistics across regions, if the location of the crime cannot be verified, whether the amount of the crime reaches "large amount", "huge amount", or "particularly huge amount" shall be determined based on the relevant amount standards determined by the higher people's courts and procuratorates of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government where the case is accepted. 3、 10. Public security organs should strengthen their investigation and evidence collection work, collect fixed evidence around relevant criminal facts and sentencing circumstances, and pay special attention to collecting and fixing evidence materials such as ship documents, navigation logs, route trajectories, loading and unloading records, call records, sales contracts, transfer records, etc. of the involved ships. For major, difficult, complex, and socially impactful cases with high attention, when necessary, public security organs may consult with the People's Procuratorate to provide opinions on case characterization, evidence collection, legal application, etc. 11. The People's Procuratorate shall fulfill its legal supervision responsibilities in accordance with the law, improve the criminal prosecution system, and strengthen the evidence review, filing supervision, and other work of criminal cases of property infringement in the field of water transportation logistics. For cases submitted by public security organs for approval of arrest or transfer for review and prosecution, if supplementary investigation is required, a specific and detailed outline of supplementary investigation shall be prepared and sent to the public security organs. 12. The people's court should strengthen the examination and judgment of evidence in criminal cases of property infringement in the field of water transportation logistics, comprehensively use evidence, and conduct examination and determination around the factual circumstances related to conviction and sentencing, ensuring that the facts of the case are clear, the evidence is reliable and sufficient. 13. In handling criminal cases of property infringement in the field of water transport logistics, if it is really impossible to identify the victim due to objective conditions, the victim and relevant criminal facts can be comprehensively identified by combining the verified water transport logistics contract, bank account transaction records, third-party payment account settlement transaction records, call records, electronic data and other evidence, combined with the confession of the suspect and the defendant. The value of the goods involved in the case can be determined based on the amount of stolen goods sold; If there is no amount of stolen goods sold, the amount of stolen goods sold is difficult to verify, or if it is clearly unreasonable to determine based on the amount of stolen goods sold, it shall be determined based on market prices. 15. For the vessels and goods involved in the case, the investigating authorities shall, after fixing the evidence through methods such as photography, audio and video recording, determining the quantity of goods, and extracting samples, properly safeguard them in accordance with the law. If the victim is identified, it shall be returned in a timely manner in accordance with the law; If the victim is temporarily unable to determine or the original owner is unwilling to accept, items that are easily damaged, lost, or deteriorated and are not suitable for long-term storage can be disposed of in accordance with the law. 16. The investigating authorities shall promptly collect fixed evidence to prove the source, nature, ownership status, value of the involved property, as well as evidence materials on whether it should be recovered, confiscated or ordered to be returned according to law. If the property involved in the case needs to be returned to the victim, the victim's loss situation should be investigated in accordance with the law. For complex cases involving multi-party crimes, organized crime, etc., audit institutions can be commissioned to issue special audit reports on the verification of the involved property item by item. For audit elements that are incomplete or audit conclusions that are clearly unreasonable, the audit institution should be required to make corrections or provide reasons within a specified period of time. 17. The physical objects used as evidence should be transferred with the case. For items that do not need to be transferred with the case according to relevant regulations, a list of items, photos, or other supporting documents should be transferred. Transfer for review and prosecution