China’s judicial authorities have significantly escalated their campaign against transnational telecommunications and cyber fraud networks, achieving substantial breakthroughs in prosecuting criminal organizations operating from northern Myanmar. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) and Supreme People’s Court (SPC) presented comprehensive work reports to the National People’s Congress on Monday, detailing their intensified efforts against sophisticated fraud operations targeting Chinese citizens.
According to the judicial reports, Chinese prosecutors brought charges against approximately 69,000 individuals for telecommunications and online fraud offenses throughout 2025. Among these cases, 285 defendants faced prosecution for severe crimes including fraud, intentional homicide, and intentional injury – all committed under the direction of criminal syndicates based in Myanmar’s northern regions.
The judicial crackdown has yielded decisive outcomes, with Chinese courts concluding 41,000 fraud-related cases in 2025, representing a 1.2 percent increase from the previous year. In a landmark development, sixteen members of family-operated criminal syndicates in Myanmar received death sentences for their roles in orchestrating fraud operations against Chinese nationals. These sentences underscore China’s determination to extend legal jurisdiction beyond its borders when its citizens are victimized.
Notable cases include the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court’s sentencing of eleven criminal group members from northern Myanmar, including leaders Mg Myin Shaunt Phyin and Ma Thiri Maung, to death for multiple offenses. Court documents revealed the organization had established an armed faction in Myanmar’s Kokang region, engaging in telecommunications fraud, casino operations, drug trafficking, and organized prostitution since 2015. Their criminal activities resulted in fourteen Chinese fatalities and six injuries, with illegal proceeds exceeding 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion). The executions were carried out earlier this year following mandatory review and approval by the SPC.
Similarly, the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court sentenced five members of another prominent syndicate to death in November. Led by Bay Saw Chain and Bay Yin Chin, this group utilized its military influence to establish forty-one compounds in the Kokang region, resulting in six Chinese deaths and multiple injuries. Following Bay Saw Chain’s death from illness, the SPC approved the execution of the remaining four defendants in February.
Yang Jianbo, Director-General of the SPP’s Law and Policy Research Office, confirmed that since the special operation’s inception in 2023, arrest warrants have been approved for 49,000 individuals, with 47,000 already prosecuted. “This has effectively deterred cross-border telecom fraud offenders,” Yang stated.
Legal experts emphasize the jurisdictional legitimacy of China’s actions. Professor Peng Xinlin of Beijing Normal University explained that under Chinese law, jurisdiction applies regardless of the perpetrator’s nationality or crime location when actions harm Chinese interests and constitute crimes in both jurisdictions, carrying potential sentences of three or more years. “Telecom fraud, including online scams, is criminalized in both China and Myanmar,” Peng noted, “and because these offenders have inflicted significant harm on Chinese citizens, they can be prosecuted under China’s Criminal Law.”