Chief Justice Zhou Qiang delivers a work report of the Supreme People's Court at the third plenary meeting of the Second Session of the 13th National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 12, 2019. [Photo by Kuang Linhua/chinadaily.com.cn]

Nationwide 33,000 people were last year convicted of taking bribes or duty dereliction, a report published Tuesday said.

Among them were 18 officials at or above ministerial level, including Sun Zhengcai.

Sun, former Chongqing Party chief and former member of the Political Bureau of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee, was sentenced to life in prison for taking bribes of over 170 million yuan ($26.7 million) on May 8, 2018.

Another 2,466 people were convicted of offering bribes last year, according to the annual work report of the Supreme People's Court.

The report is under review at the ongoing session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

The top court also issued an announcement together with the National Commission of Supervision to push corrupt fugitives to return to China to face justice, the report said.

The report shows that courts nationwide are facing pressure handling a rising number of cases.

China's top court last year heard 34,794 cases and concluded 31,883, up by 22.1 and 23.5 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Local courts at all levels handled 28 million lawsuits and concluded 25 million, up 8.8 and 10.6 percent, respectively.

The number of concluded intellectual property cases reached 288,000, an increase of 42 percent year-on-year, according to the work report.

The increase is due to various measures the top court has taken to intensify intellectual property protection and rising public awareness, authorities have said.

To better protect intellectual property rights and improve innovation-driven development, a national-level court, a new division under the top court, was opened in Beijing in January to specialize in hearing civil administrative patent appeals.

Nineteen intellectual property tribunals were additionally established at grassroots-level courts across the country last year to optimize the technology and innovation legal environment, according to the report.