[Photo/VCG]

BEIJING -- Around 1.08 million first-instance court cases on the environment and resources have been registered in China in the five-year period since the June 2014 establishment of the Adjudication Tribunal for Environment and Resources at the Supreme People's Court (SPC), an SPC vice-president said on July 30.

Jiang Bixin revealed the figure at a press conference marking the fifth anniversary of the above-mentioned adjudication tribunal that was created to lead and guide environment- and resources-related adjudication work across the country, among the SPC's moves to step up work in the area.

Around 1.03 million cases on the environment and resources were concluded by courts of various levels during the same period, he said.

The period saw the registration of more than 113,000 new criminal cases on the environment and resources and the conclusion of over 108,000 cases of this type amid courts' intensified crackdown on crimes of polluting and damaging the environment, Jiang said.

Among its efforts to improve systems, mechanisms and ways for environment- and resources-related adjudication work, the SPC has pushed for steady progress in forming adjudication bodies specializing in handling cases on the environment and resources at courts of various levels.

As of June 2019, there were a total of 1,201 adjudication bodies specializing in handling cases on the environment and resources nationwide, including 352 adjudication tribunals and 70 circuit courts, according to Jiang.