China's judicial protection of intellectual property rights has been further strengthened, contributing to serving its innovation-driven development and promoting new quality productive forces, according to annual work reports.

The reports of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate were submitted to the ongoing third session of the 14th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, for review on Saturday.

Last year, 21,000 individuals were prosecuted for infringing upon trademarks, patents, copyrights and business secrets, the SPP showed in its report, adding that the legal effort to advance the development of emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence and biomedicine was increased.

Chinese prosecutors also played their role in public-interest litigation, handling 4,219 IP-related cases, in a move to encourage technological innovators and serve high-level technological self-reliance, the report said.

In 2024, Chinese courts resolved 494,000 IP-related cases, an increase of 0.9 percent compared to the previous year, the SPC said in the report.

Judges across the country focused more on protecting IP rights in the fields of information technology, high-end equipment, biomedicine and new materials, the report noted.

Since the establishment of the Intellectual Property Court of the SPC in 2019, nearly 20,000 technological IP rights appeal cases have been concluded, with disputes in strategic emerging industries increasing annually. In 2024, such disputes reached 1,233, accounting for 32.3 percent of total cases, according to the report.

In addition, it added that Chinese courts imposed penalties on those using AI to infringe upon others' legitimate rights, in an effort to ensure the orderly development of the industry.?