Ministry of Justice uncovers 90,000 predatory enforcement cases as bankrupt local authorities raid private businesses
司法部曝光逾9万起涉企违规执法案：濒临破产的地方当局跨省搜刮民企
- The Ministry of Justice disclosed that national inspectors uncovered over 90,000 cases of unlawful enforcement against private businesses, remediating 31 billion yuan in seized assets. 司法部披露，全国督察查处超过9万起针对民营企业的违法行政执法案件，纠错返还被非法查扣的企业资产近310亿元。
- Administrative review organs overturned 40,000 improper penalties between January and August 2026 as bankrupt interior municipalities raided firms in wealthy coastal provinces. 随着深陷债务泥潭的内陆市县跨省搜刮沿海富庶省份的民营企业，行政复议机关在2026年1月至8月间纠正了4万起不当行政处罚。
- Beijing's central ministries resolved the cases without prosecuting complicit local officials, leaving the structural debt drivers of predatory extortion unaddressed. 北京中央部委在纠偏退款时并未追究滥用职权的地方官员，驱使这一掠夺性勒索的体制性地方债务根源依然未获触及。
China’s Ministry of Justice admitted that national inspectors uncovered over 90,000 cases of predatory and unlawful administrative enforcement against private enterprises, The Paper and Sina Finance reported. Between January and August 2026 alone, administrative review organs overturned 40,000 illegal penalties levied by local bureaus, forcing the remediation of nearly 31 billion yuan ($4.35 billion) in illicitly seized corporate assets. The extortion was widespread. Across inland provinces, bankrupt municipal police squads and market supervision bureaus routinely dispatched enforcement teams across provincial boundaries into wealthy coastal hubs, freezing corporate bank accounts and demanding arbitrary fines to cover local budgetary deficits.
The practice relies on institutional predation and pretextual enforcement, weaponizing municipal regulatory mandates as predatory instruments of municipal survival. Following the collapse of land-auction revenues, cash-starved county officials revived the historical playbook of confiscatory taxation, treating private businesses as revenue extraction zones rather than productive enterprises. In courtrooms and detention centers, local officials labeled routine commercial disputes as criminal fraud to justify sweeping asset freezes—an extortion tactic netizens call “distant-water fishing.” Law turned into piracy. State organs resolved the violations by returning seized funds without prosecuting the officials who confiscated them.
For millions of independent entrepreneurs operating in China’s shrinking private sector, the admissions confirm that property rights exist only at bureaucratic whim. Even when central ministries intervene to unfreeze bank accounts and stage press briefings, the structural incentive persists because deficit-ridden county governments face trillions in hidden liabilities with zero sustainable income sources. Survival takes precedence over law. As local officials continue to view private commerce as emergency municipal funding, no entrepreneur is safe.
据澎湃新闻与新浪财经报道，中国司法部承认，各级督察机关已查处超过9万起针对民营企业的掠夺性与违法行政执法案件。仅在2026年1月至8月期间，各级行政复议机关就撤销与纠正了4万起地方各局作出的违法处罚，迫使地方纠错返还近310亿元人民币（约合43.5亿美元）被非法扣押的企业资产。此类敲诈掠夺在各地蔓延成风：在深陷财政危机的内陆各省，濒临破产的市县公安队伍与市场监管局频繁派遣执法人员跨越省界，扑向沿海富庶经济中心，随意冻结企业银行账户并强加苛额罚款，以此弥补地方财政赤字。
这一行径依赖于体制性掠夺与借口式执法，将地方行政监管职能彻底武器化为地方当局维持生存的掠夺工具。在土地出让金断崖式下跌之后，陷入财政饥渴的县级官员捡起了历史上搜刮盘剥的旧套路，将民营企业视为财政抽血区而非生产经营实体。在法庭和看守所中，地方官员动辄将普通的商业纠纷定性为刑事诈骗，以此为由展开大规模资产冻结——这种勒索手段被网民形象地称为“远洋捕捞”。法律沦为明火执仗的海盗行径。而中央国家机关在纠正此类违法行为时，仅以退还涉案款项了事，并未对滥用公权、巧取豪夺的涉案官员进行司法起诉。
对于在中国日益萎缩的民营经济中苦苦支撑的数千万独立创业者而言，这一官方承认彻底印证了一个残酷现实：私有财产权在此地仅凭官僚意志的施舍而存在。即便中央部委出面干预解冻账户、召开新闻发布会装点门面，其体制性驱动力依然根深蒂固，因为债台高筑的县级政府背负着数以万亿计的隐性债务，却毫无可持续的财政收入来源。生存本能压倒了法律规则。只要地方官员仍将民间商业视为应急财政的提款渠道，任何民营企业家都无法独善其身。
Cynical discussions on Zhihu and Weibo pointed out that 'distant-water fishing' by inland police forces has become an open predatory business model: 'Local governments ran out of land to sell, so now officials treat private entrepreneurs like piggy banks to be raided under the guise of cross-provincial inspections.'
知乎与微博上的舆论对此普遍持冷嘲态度，指出内陆公安部门的“远洋捕捞”已沦为公开的掠夺式创收模式：“地方政府无地可卖，官员便将民营企业家当成‘提款机’，借跨省办案与检查之名大肆搜刮。”
State media strictly framed the briefing around bureaucratic rectification and 'protecting the business environment,' while social media platforms throttled microblog tags discussing 'distant-water fishing' (远洋捕捞) and deleted comments detailing how bankrupt interior municipalities systematically freeze coastal company accounts to extort fines.
官媒严格将此次通报定调为官僚内部的“整改规范”与“优化营商环境”，而社交媒体平台则限流压制有关“远洋捕捞”的微薄词条，并删除大量详述内陆破产市县如何系统性冻结沿海企业账户以敲诈罚款的网民评论。
Facing an estimated $13 trillion in local government debt following China's persistent property crash, cash-starved county authorities have weaponized administrative enforcement into a primary revenue driver, routinely deploying police and market supervision squads to freeze assets of profitable private businesses outside their jurisdiction.
在中国持续的房地产危机下，地方政府隐性债务估计高达13万亿美元。财政极度匮乏的县级当局遂将行政执法转化为主要创收手段，频繁调动公安与市场监管部门，跨辖区查封冻结外省盈利民企的资产。