Abstract: The criminal policy of “striking gangland-related crimes when they are in the early stage and in the bud” is Chinas main criminal policy in controlling gangland-related crimes. This policy emphasizes the elimination of gangland-related organizations in their embryonic stage and the prevention from causing greater harmful consequences. In understanding this policy, we should grasp its preventive function from the perspective of criminology, and its punitive function from the perspective of criminal law. In order to avoid unduly reducing the threshold of gangland-related crimes and blindly emphasizing the punishment in the judicial practice, the judicial organs should strictly abide by the bottom line of the principle of a legally prescribed punishment for a specified crime, put an end to chronic dependence only on the stricter and heavier punishment, and use various means to comprehensively control the gangland-related crimes.

Key words: gangland-related crimes, criminal policy, “striking gangland-related crimes when they are in the early stage and in the bud”, prevention, punishment