On April 21, 2026, China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) made a landmark move in intellectual property (IP) governance by publishing the *White Paper on Intellectual Property Prosecution Work (2025)*, marking the first time the document has been released in both Chinese and English, with the full English version hosted on the SPP’s official English website for global access.
This comprehensive report combines empirical data, visual charts, and on-the-ground case studies to paint a full picture of the progress China’s national procuratorial system has achieved over the past year in advancing the country’s innovation-driven development strategy and cultivating a world-class, market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment.
The white paper outlines how procuratorial organs at all levels carried out their statutory duties across all four litigation domains—criminal, civil, administrative, and public interest litigation—related to intellectual property rights (IPR) throughout 2025. Adhering to the criminal justice policy of tempering strict punishment with lenient mercy, procuratorial bodies cracked down on IPR infringement offenses in full compliance with Chinese law. In total, procuratorates accepted and reviewed 11,341 criminal IPR infringement cases involving 25,160 suspects, ultimately prosecuted 9,135 cases encompassing 19,102 individuals, and issued non-prosecution decisions for 5,105 people in line with the principle of proportional justice.
Beyond criminal enforcement, the national procuratorial system also expanded its work in other litigation domains: it handled 1,251 civil IPR procuratorial supervision cases and 1,795 administrative IPR procuratorial cases. For public interest litigation in the IPR space, procuratorial organs received 741 case clues and formally opened investigations into 612 of those leads.
The report structures its key achievements across three core thematic sections: “Focusing on the Core Mission, Serving High-Quality Economic and Social Development”, “Coordinating Efforts to Build an Overall IPR Protection Framework”, and “Consolidating and Further Deepening Comprehensive Procuratorial Performance”. It places particular emphasis on consistent improvements to the quality and efficiency of procuratorial supervision, which have strengthened safeguards for judicial fairness in IPR cases.
A standout priority highlighted in the white paper is the procuratorial system’s targeted efforts to support the development of China’s new quality productive forces. Procuratorial organs have prioritized enhanced legal protection for IPR in high-growth emerging and future-focused industries, including next-generation information technology, artificial intelligence, new energy, high-end manufacturing equipment, and biomedicine. They have strengthened criminal judicial safeguards for IPR tied to independent corporate innovation and key core technologies. At the same time, they have expanded civil and administrative procuratorial supervision for technology-related IPR cases covering patents, integrated circuit layout designs, new plant varieties, and computer software.
As 2026 marks the opening year of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030), it is a critical juncture for IPR procuratorial work to advance national development goals and achieve new breakthrough progress, according to the head of the SPP’s Intellectual Property Procuratorial Department. Moving forward, centered on the core national goal of building China into a global leader in IPR protection, procuratorial organs will continue to strengthen specialized case-handling institutions and professional talent teams, while refining working mechanisms for full-scope comprehensive procuratorial performance. The goal of these efforts is to better support and incentivize innovation and creativity, drive cultural prosperity, uphold fair market competition, and protect public well-being through high-quality, efficient IPR prosecutorial work.