http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/25/content_2138047.htm
China, which has approximately 1.5million prison inmates, including some 19,000 juveniles, is borrowing ideas from other countries to reform its penal system.
"We have introduced psychological treatment into Chinese prisons, borrowing ideas from Singapore and Canada," said Vice Minister of Justice Fan Fangping at the annual general meeting of the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA), which opened here Monday.
Most of the 670 prisons in China are now equipped with facilities and personnel to give psychological treatment to inmates, and some of them are working with universities and research institutes on treatment and research programs.
"This is an example of how China is combining its reality with advanced ideas from other countries," Fan noted. "Many countries in the world are trying to turn more criminals into law-abiding citizens through prisons and corrections, which is also the policy of the Chinese government. We have much to exchange and share with them."
