Cutting, punching or tearing down oil and gas devices to steal the oil and gas contained within should be defined as a crime of harming public security, China's top court said.

The definition was highlighted in a guideline jointly issued by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security on Tuesday to remove confusion in legal practice.

But some other destructive behaviors, such as opening or closing oil and gas devices, should not be directly defined as crimes, "as the actions need to be further proved that they could bring fires or explosions," the guideline said.

"The clarification is to maintain public security, energy security and ecological security, as well as to strictly fight those who steal oil and gas through destruction," the top court said in a statement.