BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- China has released a guideline for punishing assault against police officers, clarifying the application of the law in such cases, said the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) Friday.

It makes it explicit what kinds of behaviors will lead to criminal liability and tougher punishment in accordance with the law and shows China's determination to punish violence against police officers, Sun Ping, deputy director of the ministry's legal affairs bureau, said at a press conference.

Chinese procuratorates approved the arrest of 51,658 suspects involved in crimes of obstructing official duties and prosecuted 79,024 from 2016 to 2019, quite a few of which were offenses against the police, Gao Jingfeng, an official with the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPR), said at the press conference.

Jointly released by the Supreme People's Court, the MPS and the SPR, the guideline was the first of its kind China has ever released and went into effect on Dec. 27, 2019.