With the Spring Festival approaching, the Chinese government has pledged to crack down on the malicious nonpayment of wages to protect workers' rights and maintain social stability. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security says it has introduced a measure to release a detailed judicial interpretation of criminal acts related to the * and implement procedures to deal with them. Ding Baoyong, a lawyer in central China's Henan Province, says the move is a crucial step to help resolve the problem. "Currently, we have very vague definition of crime concerning wage defaults. There is a lack of implementation standards, and it is difficult to enforce the policies. For example, it is unclear how labor departments and police authorities should cooperate with each other in handling such cases. There is no specific definition as to the amount of unpaid wages by employers that would constitute a criminal act." In February, the government passed an amendment to the Criminal Law, stipulating that the malicious nonpayment of wages was a crime. Employers who intentionally withheld salaries can now face up to seven years in jail.