China says juvenile crime, crimes against minors both fall in 2025

(ECNS) - China's top prosecutor said Monday that crimes committed by minors and crimes against minors both declined in the first 11 months of 2025, marking what officials described as the first simultaneous drop in recent years.

Xian Jie, head of the minors' prosecution department at the Supreme People's Procuratorate, made the remarks at a press conference in Beijing.

From January to November, prosecutors nationwide filed charges in cases involving crimes against minors, down 1.9% from a year earlier, Xian said. The number of cases involving crimes committed by minors accepted for review and prosecution fell 9.7%. She described the figures as a "double decline."

Prosecutors will uphold a "zero tolerance" approach toward crimes such as sexual assault and violent harm against minors, and will strictly punish adults who coerce, lure or instigate minors into illegal or criminal activity, Xian said.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate recently issued judicial guidance aimed at strengthening prosecutorial supervision and improving prevention and governance mechanisms related to juvenile crime. Authorities will also promote graded intervention and correction mechanisms for minors exhibiting misconduct and strengthen prevention efforts involving families, schools and communities.

Separately, prosecutors filed more than 320 public prosecutions involving over 670 suspects in cases of trafficking women and children during the same period, officials said. Nationwide, 25,000 rape cases involving 28,000 suspects were prosecuted in the first 11 months of 2025.

At the same press conference, Xu Xiangchun, head of the public interest litigation department at the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said authorities had used administrative public interest litigation to address cases in which village regulations in some areas infringed on the rights of rural women, urging government agencies to strengthen oversight.

(By Zhang Jiahao)