Community corrections will become a means of punishing criminals in China starting May 1, following the program's inclusion in the latest Amendment to the Criminal Law.

The amendment, passed by the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee on Friday, stipulates that community corrections will be used for criminals who commit light offenses, behave well in prison or are executing sentences out of jail under special conditions.

"This can be regarded as a legal landmark in history and a fruit of the Chinese Criminal Law reform," said Jiang Aidong, the head of the community correction work department under the Ministry of Justice.

Wang, a 49-year-old offender who declined to give his real name, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in 1989. But because of his good behavior in prison, his term was eventually reduced to 19 years.

In November 2008, Wang was released to Hepingjie justice department at Chaoyang district in Beijing, and put into a community-corrections program. He now is working for a construction company.

"At the beginning of being in community corrections, I felt nervous, especially after the closed, depressing and frustrating conditions in prison," he said. "But soon I felt they were concerned about me and started receiving assistance from officers here."

Fan Chongyi, a law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said the use of community corrections is a good way to prepare criminals to re-enter society and has helped to make various related criminal reforms more effective.

By the end of 2010, communities throughout the country had accepted 598,000 offenders into the correctional program, while discharging 320,000 from it, according to official statistics.

There are now still 278,000 offenders who are participating in the program. Of the total, only 0.22 percent recommit crimes, according to the figures.

Official statistics indicate that Canada, which has the highest use rate in the world of non-jail punishments, has 79.76 percent of its convicted criminals in such programs.

In China, community-corrections programs have been established in 304 cities, 2,053 counties and 26,676 towns, according to the statistics.

But obstacles to its spread still exist.

Zhou Xiaolei, an officer in the Hepingjie justice department, said there are too few of the psychological experts who are needed to help offenders become mentally prepared for a return to society.

"Besides that, a lack of professional managers, a dearth in the number of police officers and an inadequate amount of money are another three obstacles to community corrections," she said.

Liu Renwen, a researcher at the Institute of Law under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said, "Making community corrections part of a piece of legislation was just the first step in the program's development."

"The specific regulations or supporting measures that can be enforced are still up in the air," Liu said.

He said community corrections has a difficult and long path to trod in China.