China Unveils 2025 IP Prosecution White Paper, Details Record Enforcement
China's Supreme People's Procuratorate published its 2025 white paper outlining IP prosecution priorities and statistics.
Why it matters: China’s evolving approach to IP enforcement is set to impact global legal strategy and international business. The professionalization of prosecution signals heightened attention to IP rights, important for rights holders, investors, and counsel worldwide.
- Chinese procuratorates reviewed 6,220 IPR crime cases involving 10,509 individuals in 2025.
- 37.3% of prosecuted IPR criminal cases were internet-based, totaling 3,408 cases.
- The SPP established a dedicated Intellectual Property Procuratorial Department in 2025.
- Sixty technical investigation officers were appointed to support complex, tech-intensive prosecutions.
On April 21, 2026, China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) released its White Paper on Intellectual Property Prosecution Work (2025), spotlighting a year of record activity and structural reform in the nation’s approach to intellectual property rights (IPR).
- Procuratorates reviewed 6,220 IPR crime cases (10,509 individuals) for arrest approvals in 2025, formally approving the arrests of 5,709 individuals across 3,781 cases.
- 9,135 criminal cases involving 19,102 people were prosecuted for IPR offenses.
- Internet-related IPR crimes accounted for 37.3% of prosecutions (3,408 cases), highlighting the digital shift in infringement patterns.
Beyond criminal enforcement, 1,251 civil cases and 1,795 administrative matters concerning IPR were handled by procuratorates, together with 741 leads on public interest litigation—612 of which were formally filed in 2025.
The SPP’s formation of a dedicated Intellectual Property Procuratorial Department last year marks a step change. Li Xuehui, SPP spokesperson, stressed the move “reflects the CPC Central Committee's high attention to intellectual property protection” and signifies more professionalized, integrated IP judicial protection.
Notably, the SPP also appointed its first cohort of 60 technical investigation officers in fields ranging from mechanics to electronic communications, underscoring the complexity—and technological intensity—of many new IPR matters (analysis).
These developments collectively signal China’s ambition to align IP prosecution with international practice, creating new legal considerations for multinationals and rights holders doing business in or with China.
By the numbers:
- 6,220 — IPR crime cases reviewed for arrest approval in 2025
- 3,408 — IPR criminal cases prosecuted that involved the internet (37.3%)
- 60 — technical investigation officers appointed in 2025
Yes, but: Details on conviction rates or penalties for prosecuted IPR cases were not disclosed.