1998 the Supreme People's Court's "Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Trial of Economic Disputes Suspected of Economic Crimes" stipulates in principle the problem of the mutual involvement of criminal and civil cases: if the people's court accepts an economic dispute case and finds that it is not an economic dispute case but is suspected of economic crimes after trial, it shall rule to dismiss the prosecution and transfer the relevant materials to the public security organ or the procuratorial organ. If a public security organ or a procuratorial organ considers an economic dispute case that has been put on file by a people's court to be suspected of an economic crime, and explains the reasons and sends a letter to the people's court accepting the case with relevant materials, the relevant people's court shall carefully examine it. In order to ensure that criminal cases of illegal fund-raising are properly handled according to law, prevent public security and judicial organs from handling cases in isolation, and do a good job in identifying and returning the ownership of the property involved, the Opinions clarify that civil cases involved in criminal cases of illegal fund-raising shall be handled with reference to the above provisions.
This article emphasizes that under the same legal fact, criminal cases take precedence over civil cases and are divided into three levels according to different litigation procedures and links: First, if the public security organs, people's procuratorates and people's courts are investigating, prosecuting and trying criminal cases of illegal fund-raising, the people's courts shall not accept them and transfer the relevant materials to the public security organs or procuratorial organs. Second, if the people's court finds that there is a crime of illegal fund-raising in the process of hearing a civil case or executing it, it shall rule to dismiss the prosecution or suspend the execution, and timely transfer the relevant materials to the public security organ or the procuratorial organ. Third, when the public security organs, people's procuratorates and people's courts investigate, prosecute and hear criminal cases of illegal fund-raising, they find that the civil cases being tried by the people's courts belong to the same fact, or that the property applied for execution belongs to the property involved, they should promptly notify the relevant people's courts. If the people's court considers that it is really suspected of committing a crime after examination, it shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.