Chief Justice Zhou Qiang delivered the work report of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) at a plenary meeting of the Second Session of the 13th National People's Congress on March 12 in Beijing.

34,794 cases were handled by the SPC in 2018

The SPC handled 34,794 cases in 2018 and concluded 31,883 cases, up 22.1 percent and 23.5 percent year on year respectively.

During the year, courts at local levels handled 28 million cases and concluded 25.168 million cases, increasing by 8.8 percent and 10.6 percent respectively from the previous year.

42 pct more IPR cases were concluded in first trials in 2018

Chinese courts at all levels concluded 288,000 cases related to intellectual property rights (IPR) of first instance in 2018, up 41.8 percent year on year.

A tribunal for IPR-related cases was set up at the SPC last year to further strengthen the judicial protection of IPR.

More efforts were put into the construction of the intellectual property courts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, as well as 19 tribunals for IPR-related cases to improve the legal environment for technological innovation.

28,000 graft cases were concluded in 2018

Chinese courts at all levels concluded 28,000 graft cases involving embezzlement, bribery and dereliction of duty in 2018. These cases involved 33,000 people, including 18 former officials at the provincial-level and above.

A total of 2,466 people who had offered bribes were convicted last year amid heavier crackdown on such crime.

China toughens action against judicial corruption in 2018

Chinese courts at all levels investigated and punished 1,064 court staff for abusing the judging and enforcement power last year.

A total of 369 court staff were investigated and punished for their behaviors against the spirit of the eight-point regulation on improving Party and government conduct.

China cracks down on crimes threatening state security

Chinese courts at all levels took strong actions against crimes threatening state security last year. Such crimes included inciting the subversion of state power, inciting the split of the country and espionage, according to the report.

During the year, courts across the country also worked with relevant departments to issue guidelines on busting terrorism and extremism, and punished crimes that involved advocating terrorism and using extremist methods to undermine the implementation of laws.

China beefs up crackdown on organized crime, local mafia

Chinese courts concluded 5,489 cases of organized crime and local mafia in 2018, which involved 29,000 criminals.

China strengthens legal protection of environment, resources

China prosecuted 42,195 people for damaging environment and resources in 2018, up 21 percent year on year.

In a separate report, the SPC says courts around the country severely punished crimes of environmental pollution, concluding 2,204 such cases in 2018. About 251,000 cases related to environment and resources were also concluded by courts around the country.

China improves judicial services for foreign businesses

Chinese courts concluded 15,000 foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance in 2018. The SPC set up international commercial courts in the cities of Shenzhen and Xi'an last year, among other measures, to serve the Belt and Road Initiative and the all-round opening-up.

Citing an example, the Hangzhou Internet Court in last August adjudicated a copyright infringement case and ordered two offending Chinese companies to compensate for the economic loss of British animation "Peppa Pig" character's copyright owners.