Judicial efforts lead to decline in China's pollution cases

China has seen a drop in environmental criminal cases over the past five years, thanks to ongoing intensified judicial efforts against pollution, an official from the country's top court said Monday.

Wu Zhaoxiang, chief judge of the Supreme People's Court's Environment and Resource Division, said at a news conference that Chinese courts concluded more than 1.19 million first-instance environmental cases from 2021 to 2025, marking a 4.3 percent decrease from the previous five-year period.

Wu noted that the number of first-instance criminal cases related to the environment and resources has steadily declined over the past five years. In 2025, courts accepted 24,000 new cases of this type, a 32.6 percent decrease compared to 2021.

"This indicates the orderly and effective progress of China's environmental protection efforts and demonstrates the positive outcomes courts have achieved in supporting, integrating into, and promoting national governance in environmental and ecological matters," Wu said.

While maintaining strict actions against polluters, Wu highlighted the optimization of the country's environmental adjudication system during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).

According to him, China has established more than 2,000 specialized institutions for handling environmental cases, with 16,000 judicial personnel dedicated to this field. In addition to national high courts setting up environmental tribunals, intermediate courts in cities such as Nanjing, Kunming, Zhengzhou, Changchun, Urumqi, Chongqing, Chengdu, and Hefei have also formed specialized teams focused on environmental adjudication.

"These initiatives have positioned China as the country with the most extensive and comprehensive system of specialized judicial institutions for environmental matters," Wu said.

Additionally, Chinese courts have issued judicial documents and invited experts to improve the professionalism of environmental case handling and enhance the rule of law awareness of the public, he added.