The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) recently released a white paper on work in the four major procuratorial functions in 2025, covering criminal, civil, administrative, and public interest litigation.
The data disclosed in the white paper reveal notable shifts — with certain figures rising year on year while others show significant declines. These fluctuations offer a meaningful perspective on evolving crime patterns, the effectiveness of judicial oversight, and the overall progress of the country’s rule of law development.
According to the white paper, both arrests and prosecutions nationwide dropped in 2025, decreasing by 11.7 percent and 13.9 percent year on year, respectively.
"This directly reflects a reduction in overall criminal activity and underscores the effectiveness of crime prevention efforts, as well as continuous improvements in public security," stated Tong Jianming, First Deputy Prosecutor General of the SPP.
This overall trend is reflected in several key areas. The continued decline in serious violent crimes has further solidified the foundation of social security. In 2025, the number of individuals prosecuted for crimes such as intentional homicide, robbery, and kidnapping dropped to 54,000 — the lowest level this century.
Common and frequently occurring crimes affecting daily public security also decreased noticeably, with year-on-year reductions of 21.5 percent in the number of individuals accepted for prosecution review and 16.5 percent in those prosecuted.
Moreover, prosecutions for aiding and abetting crimes saw a sharp decline of 61.7 percent. Drug-related crimes, concealment of criminal proceeds, and illegal casino operations also dropped by over 20 percent.
Regarding the protection of minors, a top concern of the public, the number of prosecutions for crimes against minors and the acceptance and review of prosecutions for crimes committed by minors decreased by 2.2 percent and 9.8 percent year on year, respectively. This reflects positive outcomes from China's "six-pillar protection" framework, which involves families, schools, society, the online sector, government departments and judicial bodies including procuratorates.
In contrast to the downward trend in crime-related data, case-handling figures in several key areas of procuratorial supervision showed an upward movement.
In the fight against corruption, the number of officials transferred and prosecuted for duty-related crimes increased by 10.8 percent and 20.5 percent year on year, respectively.
In the economic sector, the proportion of individuals prosecuted for crimes disrupting the socialist market economic order reached its highest level in nearly a decade.
To uphold judicial fairness, the number of written opinions for rectification issued on illegal acts in investigation activities rose by 27.2 percent year on year, highlighting the active role of procuratorial oversight.
These data reflect a shift in the focus of procuratorial work. In 2025, while the total number of litigation oversight cases decreased, data in supervision targeting deep-seated issues grew. Cases urging administrative agencies to transfer criminal matters increased by 9.2 percent, and oversight over illegal civil enforcement activities rose by 9.3 percent.
The total number of public interest litigation cases dropped by 10.4 percent, while the number of administrative public interest litigation prosecutions increased by 2.7 percent.
The fluctuations also illustrate changes in procuratorial philosophy and practice, as well as improved efficiency and quality in case handling.
According to the white paper, the nationwide case resolution rate rose by 2.3 percentage points year on year, while the number of people acquitted or whose prosecutions were withdrawn dropped by 13.6 percent year on year.
Although public complaints accepted by procuratorial organs nationwide increased by 8.7 percent, procuratorate-related complaints, repeated complaints, and group complaints declined by 0.5 percent, 2.5 percent, and 15.7 percent, respectively.
