China’s Supreme People's Court increased its crackdown on drug crimes last year, according to Gao Guijun, a criminal court judge.

Gao said at a press conference in Beijing on June 24 that China’s drug crime cases have been on the rise, jumping from 38,500 in 2007 to 106,803 in 2014, and the number of people sentenced for drug-related crimes went from 43,360, in 2007, to 109,692, last year.

The court said that drug crimes have moved beyond their traditional strongholds in border and coastal areas to other parts of the country, especially in provinces in the south and the east, including Guangdong, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan and Liaoning.

It also said it will get tougher on drug smuggling, drug manufacturing and bulk drug trafficking to put a halt to drug crimes at the source and will mete out harsher punishment for criminals committing serious crimes, or those who pose a danger to society, such as drug lords, professional traffickers, habitual offenders and recidivists.

The top court said it will approve capital punishment for drug crimes of an extreme nature and make sure that economic actions, such as recovering illegal gains, imposing fines and confiscating property, are enforced.

At the same time, any criminal who gives up crime or shows improved behavior, or is a juvenile, will be subject to a lesser punishment. The court also has new measures involving drug crimes to improve the proceedings and ensure that lower courts closely follow the law and mete out punishments correctly.