The fourth session of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) held its second plenary meeting today at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, attended by President Xi Jinping and other party and state leaders.
During the session, NPC Standing Committee Chairman Zhao Leji delivered the legislative body’s work report. Supreme People’s Court President Zhang Jun and Supreme People’s Procuratorate Procurator-General Ying Yong also delivered reports on the work of the judiciary and the prosecution service.
Politics
The APN Standing Committee report highlights that parliament supported reforms and economic development through legislation considered to be of “high quality,” including the approval of the Private Sector Promotion Act and revisions to legislation on unfair competition, foreign trade, arbitration, and maritime law.
Future legislative priorities include drafting a law to combat cross-border corruption, advancing a law on state assets, and strengthening legislative research in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence.
Economy
In the economic sphere, the NPC intends to push forward with legislation to strengthen financial stability and consolidate the development of a high-level socialist market economy. The report also mentions measures to protect the order of the capital market and improve the legal framework for financial activities.
The parliament also strengthened its oversight of fiscal and economic policies, reviewing reports from the State Council on the development of new productive forces and the application of scientific and technological advances in industry.
Chinese courts reviewed about 25,000 cases related to securities, futures, and funds in 2025, an increase of 53.6% over the previous year, according to the Supreme People’s Court report. Authorities say crimes such as market manipulation, financial fraud, and fraudulent emissions have been punished more severely to protect investors and ensure the stable functioning of the financial system.
Society and justice
Judicial reports indicate that Chinese courts concluded approximately 46,000 cases related to serious violent crimes in 2025, 7.3% less than in the previous year, as part of a strategy to strengthen public safety.
The fight against corruption was also strengthened: courts handled 36,000 cases of crimes related to public office, such as corruption and bribery, 22.4% more than in the previous year. The authorities also strengthened international cooperation to locate corrupt officials abroad and recover illicit assets.
The judicial system also maintained a zero-tolerance policy for crimes against minors, with around 40,000 cases tried in 2025. Alongside this, measures to prevent juvenile delinquency and protect children were stepped up.
Chairman of the National People's Congress, Zhao Leji (Photo: Xinhua).
President of the Supreme People's Court, Zhang Jun (Photo: Xinhua).
Supreme People's Procuratorate Procurator-general, Ying Yong (Photo: Xinhua).
The second plenary meeting of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing (Photo: Xinhua).
Over the past five years, courts have also seen a significant increase in cybersecurity-related cases, with more than 9,300 cases tried, prosecuting 22,000 suspects for online fraud, digital violence, and spreading rumors on the internet.
The courts have also stepped up the fight against new synthetic drugs and tightened intellectual property protection, penalizing around 19,000 people for copyright and patent infringement crimes in 2025.
Parallel to this, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate announced that it will intensify the fight against telephone and online fraud. In 2025, charges were brought against around 69,000 people for crimes of this type, including cross-border networks operating in Southeast Asia.
Environment and science
The legislative report also mentions initiatives to support environmental protection, including advancing the drafting of a law on activities in Antarctica and protecting the environment in the region.
In addition, parliament intends to strengthen the study of legislation for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, reflecting the growing importance of these areas for China’s scientific and technological development strategy.
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International relations and national security
In the area of national security, Chinese courts claimed to have strictly enforced the law against separatist activities linked to Taiwanese independence, punishing individuals deemed responsible for crimes of secession or incitement to secession.
Judicial reports also indicate a significant increase in cases with an international dimension: approximately 159,000 foreign-related cases were concluded during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), 66% more than in the previous period.
The authorities have taken measures against foreign sanctions deemed illegal and other forms of extraterritorial jurisdiction, in accordance with Chinese law against external sanctions, according to the Supreme People’s Court.
