Farmer Wang Lijun’s bumpy road to grain collection： the crime of collecting grain without a license becomes innocence

　　Two years ago, Wang Lijun, a farmer from Inner Mongolia, never thought that he would be convicted of "illegal business operation" because he bought corn and sold it to the grain depot during the slack season. Ten months ago, Wang Lijun, who received the court verdict, did not even think that he would be retried and acquitted in the future. On February 17th, when Wang Lijun heard that the presiding judge had acquitted him, he breathed a sigh of relief, and his dark face was expressionless. All these changes came so fast that he had not fully digested them. While this series of changes are taking place, a bigger change is also unfolding — — Individual grain collectors in China no longer need to apply for a license.

　　The farmer wondered, "How can I break the law when I collect corn?"

　　Bayannaoer City, Inner Mongolia, located in the Yellow River Irrigation District, is a rice granary watered by the mother river. Every harvest season, the countryside of Bayannaoer City is always full of golden corn cobs, waiting for the grain collectors to buy them. Wang Lijun, a local farmer, was once a member of the "grain harvest army", but two years ago, his family was in trouble because of this "supplementary household" business.

　　Wang Lijun lives in Yongsheng Village, Bainaobao Town, Linhe District, Bayannaoer City. He has 12 mu of land at home and contracted 30 mu of land from others. No matter how hard Mr. and Mrs. Wang Lijun manage these 42 acres of land, life is always miserable. Wang Lijun always worries about his family’s life. "In the past years, when he was good, he could earn 40,000 yuan or 50,000 yuan a year. In the past two years, the harvest was not good. One acre of land could only earn 1,000 yuan. Apart from the land rent and seed pesticide fees in 350 yuan, there was no money left."

　　In order to improve the life at home, Wang Lijun began to buy corn from neighboring farmers in 2008, and then sold it to grain depots or deep processing plants. He first rode a tricycle to his neighbor’s house to buy it. In 2013, he bought second-hand agricultural vehicles and corn threshers. "There are more and more people doing this business, and people have bought advanced machines. If I always use backward machines, I will not receive food."

　　Just as Wang Lijun was plotting to borrow money to buy a new corn processor and expand the scale of corn purchase, the change happened. At the end of 2015, Wang Lijun was seized by the industrial and commercial bureau and other relevant departments for purchasing corn without a license, and then he surrendered himself to the public security organs. On April 15, 2016, Wang Lijun was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment, suspended for two years, and fined RMB20,000 by the Linhe District People’s Court for illegal business operation; The illegal profits of RMB 6,000 returned by Wang Lijun shall be turned over to the state treasury by the investigation organ.

　　After hearing the trial results, Wang Lijun was stupid. "No one ever told me that I had to apply for a certificate to collect corn. I collected corn in the slack season to supplement my family, and it was convenient for the surrounding farmers. How could it be illegal?"

　　Social Controversy: "Why do you judge the crime of illegal business operation by collecting grain without a license?"

　　Wang Lijun’s doubts are also the doubts of the general public. "Can buying corn without a license constitute a crime of illegal business?" Public opinion is controversial about this.

　　There is a view that wheat, corn and other grains are important resources related to people’s livelihood and social stability. The state has a strict franchise system in purchasing, trading and other links, and Wang Lijun’s sentence for purchasing corn conforms to laws and regulations.

　　Some netizens think that the increase of small second-hand vendors and small third-hand vendors who buy agricultural products like Wang Lijun will push up the prices of agricultural products step by step, and this behavior should be stopped. Some netizens also said: "The scale of individual grain collectors is large, and hoarding may occur, which is not conducive to the circulation of grain."

　　There is another voice that under the condition of market economy, farmers buy grain and resell it to grain depots or processing plants in order to pursue the "price difference". As long as they do not violate the contract, it is a normal market behavior, and the penalty for investigating criminal responsibility for "illegal business operation" is too heavy.

　　Netizen "Huan Jiujiu" thinks that collecting agricultural products on a small scale can save the manpower and material costs of grain farmers. After all, not every farmer has a truck. With grain processing machines, people who have time to process the grain and send it to the grain depot are also selfish and altruistic.

　　Wang Lijun’s defense lawyer, Wang Dianxue, believes that Wang Lijun’s behavior of buying corn without a license from 2014 to 2015 violated the provisions of the State Regulations on the Administration of Grain Circulation at that time, but it did not disturb the order of grain purchase, but facilitated the farmers, so it should not be convicted of illegal business.

　　Retrial verdict: "Cancel the first-instance judgment and change the verdict to innocence"

　　Eight months after Wang Lijun was convicted of illegal business operation, things took a turn for the better. On December 16, 2016, the Supreme People’s Court made a retrial decision (2016) No.6 of Supreme Law and Criminal Supervision Bureau, instructing Bayannaoer Intermediate People’s Court to retry the case of defendant Wang Lijun’s illegal business operation, which came into effect in the first instance judgment of Linhe District People’s Court of this city.

　　Article 225 of China’s criminal law clearly stipulates illegal business operations: (1) operating franchise, monopoly goods or other restricted goods stipulated by laws and administrative regulations without permission; (2) buying and selling import and export licenses, import and export certificates of origin and business licenses or approval documents as stipulated by other laws and administrative regulations; (3) illegally engaging in securities, futures and insurance business without the approval of the relevant competent department of the state, or illegally engaging in fund payment and settlement business; (four) other illegal business activities that seriously disrupt the market order.

　　The Supreme People’s Court believes that the fourth item of Article 225 of the Criminal Law is a general provision based on the specific circumstances of three types of illegal business operations explicitly listed in the first three provisions, and it should be applied with special care in judicial practice. The relevant acts should be clearly defined by laws and judicial interpretations, and they should have the same social harm and the necessity of criminal punishment as the first three provisions, and the general administrative violations should be strictly avoided as criminal offences. As far as this case is concerned, Wang Lijun bought corn from the Food and Agriculture Department and sold it to the grain depot, which played a role as a bridge between the food and agriculture and the grain depot, did not destroy the main channel of grain circulation, did not seriously disrupt the market order, and did not have the social harm equivalent to the first three acts of the crime of illegal business operation stipulated in Article 225 of the Criminal Law, and did not have the necessity of criminal punishment.

　　On February 17th, Bayannaoer Intermediate People’s Court publicly pronounced a verdict on the retrial of Wang Lijun’s illegal business operation. The court held that the fact that Wang Lijun, the defendant in the original trial, did not apply for a grain purchase license and an industrial and commercial business license to buy and sell corn from November 2014 to January 2015 was clear, and his behavior violated the relevant provisions of the national grain circulation management at that time, but it did not reach the level of serious disruption of market order, and did not have the social harm and the necessity of criminal punishment equivalent to the crime of illegal business as stipulated in Article 225 of the Criminal Law, which did not constitute the crime of illegal business. Therefore, the original judgment was revoked according to law and Wang Lijun was acquitted.

　　After hearing the presiding judge declare that "Wang Lijun, the defendant in the original trial, was not guilty", Captain Wang Li breathed a sigh of relief. "A big stone in my heart finally landed." Wang Lijun said, "I finally recovered my status as an innocent farmer. In the future, I will live a better life for my family and sell food for the convenience of the surrounding farmers. I am going to set up a new machine to start collecting food."

　　When Wang Lijun began to buy food again, he no longer had to worry about being investigated for collecting food without a license. In September 2016, the State Grain Administration revised the Administrative Measures for the Examination and Approval of Grain Purchase Qualification. The new measures stipulate that "farmers, grain brokers and grain traders in farmers’ markets are engaged in grain purchase activities and do not need to apply for grain purchase qualifications".

　　"Grain brokers should not be restricted. They are also conducive to ensuring smooth grain circulation. The more they live, the more alive the whole grain market can be." A staff member of the procurement department of Inner Mongolia Grain Bureau said.