SPC issues first white paper on environment protection along Yangtze River

BEIJING -- China's Supreme People's Court on Friday issued a white paper on judicial protection of the ecological environment in the Yangtze River basin.

It is the first white paper by a Chinese court on judicial protection of river basins.

According to the white paper, since January 2016, people's courts at all levels along the Yangtze River have dealt with 80,356 criminal cases, 287,119 civil cases, 122,215 administrative cases, 4,944 public interest litigation cases on environmental resources and 91 lawsuits over compensation for damage to the environment.

It also shows that as of June 2020, 483 environmental and resources tribunals and 468 collegiate benches (teams) have been set up along the Yangtze River in keeping with local conditions, covering key areas of the basin.

The people's courts will go all out to strengthen judicial protection of the ecological environment, thus providing more powerful judicial services and guarantees for the building of ecological civilization and eco-friendly development in the Yangtze River basin, said Tao Kaiyuan, vice-president of the SPC.

Ten typical cases of judicial protection of water ecology in the Yangtze River basin were also released by the SPC.