Chinese courts have been ordered to strengthen judicial protection of private enterprises and entrepreneurs to further foster a favorable business environment and promote high-quality development by rule of law.

"We'll continue to strongly protect both the personal and property rights of entrepreneurs by improving the quality of case hearings to offer them a better sense of security in business and investment," said Guo Feng, deputy head of the research office at the Supreme People's Court, China's top court.

He made the remark at a news conference focused on intensifying legal protection of property rights on Wednesday, underscoring that giving equal protection to properties of State-owned, private and foreign enterprises is a key requirement raised in China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and its long-term objectives through the year 2035.

Guo urged courts nationwide to strictly distinguish financial disputes from economic crimes to prevent civil economic cases from being resolved via criminal penalties.

In a case released by the top court on Wednesday, a business owner surnamed Zhao from Anshan, Liaoning province, was sentenced to five years in prison for fraud after a local court found he had cheated a plant out of more than 46 metric tons of cold rolled steel plates worth more than 134,000 yuan ($20,845) in 1999.

But Zhao and his lawyers disagreed with the ruling, going to the top court for review after their frequent appeals were rejected by local courts.

In early 2019, the top court found Zhao not guilty and overturned the original verdict, saying the evidence in the case was not strong enough to support his conviction. It also clarified that Zhao did not take the plates with the intention of defrauding the plant, and that he in fact later paid for them.

Zhou Jiahai, another deputy head of the top court's research office, said what Zhao experienced was simply an economic dispute over a contract, but the local court wrongly meted out criminal punishment.

"No one should be convicted if evidence is not sufficient," he said, calling for judges across the country to make evidence review a priority to avoid such wrongful convictions.

He also said the top court will further intensify reviews of cases involving private enterprises and entrepreneurs to create a sound business environment for them and ensure the country's economic growth.