China strengthens juvenile delinquency prevention and protection against crimes involving minors

Chinese courts and procuratorial organs have strengthened the prevention and management of juvenile delinquency while maintaining "zero tolerance" for crimes against minors, according to annual work reports of the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate, which were submitted to the ongoing fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress on Monday for review.

As stated in the work report of the SPC, in 2025, a 14-year-old student who killed a female classmate was sentenced to life imprisonment, the maximum penalty for juvenile offenders. Courts across the country handed down sentences of over five years to 2,356 juveniles involved in serious violent crimes, while showing leniency to 5,822 minors who committed minor offenses, the report said.

It highlighted that through a comprehensive approach focusing on education, rehabilitation, and reform, the trend of high juvenile crime rates has been effectively curbed.

Last year, Chinese courts concluded around 40,000 cases involving crimes against minors, marking a 1.8-percent decrease in the number of cases compared to the previous year, according to the report.

Courts at all levels also prohibited 1,199 individuals from engaging in work that involves close contact with minors and imposed the death penalty for those who committed extremely serious crimes against minors, the report added.

In 2025, the procuratorial organs prosecuted 73,000 individuals for committing crimes against minors. For minors involved in crimes, 56,000 were prosecuted. For minors with minor offenses who actively confessed and showed remorse, 16,000 individuals were conditionally exempted from prosecution.

The SPP also approved the prosecution of 24 minors involved in serious violent crimes, emphasizing that heinous crimes must be punished.

According to an amendment to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China that came into effect on March 1, 2021, individuals who are at least 12 years old but under 14 years old and commit intentional homicide or intentional injury, resulting in death or causing severe disability through particularly cruel means, and in cases with egregious circumstances, shall bear criminal responsibility upon approval for prosecution by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Efforts were also made to strengthen the construction of specialized schools and to promote the establishment of a graded intervention and correction system for minors' misconduct. The continuous implementation of mandatory reporting and employment inquiry systems was pushed forward to enhance protective efforts.

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, marking the first "both decline" in the past five years.