China sees rapid spread of cybercrime: Procurator

BEIJING -- Cybercrime has been spreading rapidly in China in recent years, an official from the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Wednesday, noting that the number of cybercrime cases handled by procuratorial organs had increased at an annual rate of more than 34 percent.

Procuratorial organs across China approved the arrest of 89,167 suspects and filed charges against 105,658 suspects in cybercrime cases from 2018 to 2019, up 78.8 percent and 95.1 percent respectively from figures of the previous two years, said Miao Shengming with the SPP at a press conference.

Miao said procuratorial organs at all levels will step up efforts to punish cybercrime, such as fraud, pornography and gambling, as well as those that violate individual privacy, endanger data security and hamper epidemic prevention and control efforts.