BEIJING, Nov. 29 -- The number of petitions received by prosecutors across China has notably increased since January, said the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) here Friday.

In the first three quarters of this year, about 535,000 petitions were received, about 205,000 of them by the SPP, said an SPP statement, without stating the figures for last year.

The agency attributed the sharp increase to the amendments to criminal and civil procedure, which took effect on Jan. 1 this year, tightening regulation of law enforcement.

In China, prosecutors supervise the work of court, police, jails and detention houses. They can protest at a court judgement, malpractice in execution of judgements and abuse of power in detention houses and jails.

For about 38 percent of these petitions, the petitioners were relatively satisfied by the feedback they received and withdrew their petitions, according to the statement.

To cope with new circumstances, the SPP amended several protocols to improve the efficiency of receiving, investigating and responding to petitions.

The SPP will push senior prosecutors to personally supervise some complex petition cases. It will also improve cooperation with courts, police and government petition offices, the statement said.