China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Thursday it would seek authorization by the national legislature to start a pilot reform on public interest litigation in some regions.

The reform comes after the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) decided to establish a system to initiate public interest litigations by procuratorates. Earlier this month, the reform was approved by the central authority.

The SPP will now submit the two-year pilot reform to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for authorization, as some reform efforts go against existing laws.

For now, citizens, corporations and other organizations cannot initiate public interest lawsuits against some administrative organs for abuse of power of nonfeasance. Such cases may involve protection of state assets, state-owned land use rights transfer, and protection of the environment and resources.

The SPP said public interest litigation should focus on cases concerning environmental and resource protection.

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