Courts remain vigilant on corruption cases, reports show

More than 16,000 people were charged with corruption-related crimes by prosecutors last year, according to an annual work report issued by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

The report was submitted to the ongoing fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, for review on Tuesday.

Last year, disciplinary and supervision authorities handed over 20,754 suspects to prosecutors for further investigation. Among them, 16,693 have been prosecuted, 8.8 percent more than in 2020, the report said.

A total of 9,083 people were accused of accepting bribes, an increase of 21.5 percent year-on-year, and 2,689 were accused of offering bribes, up 16.6 percent over 2020, according to the report.

The annual work report of the Supreme People's Court, China's top court, was also released on Tuesday. The report said that last year, 894 defendants were found not guilty due to insufficient evidence.

The acquittals indicated that Chinese courts have intensified legal protections of human rights and have implemented the "no punishment in doubtful cases" principle under the law to ensure the innocent are not held criminally liable, it said.

There were 1,040 such acquittals in 2020 and 1,388 in 2019, according to official data.