Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), delivers a work report of the SPC at the second plenary meeting of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

Innovators in China have been given stronger protection over the past five years, thanks to greater judicial efforts in the intellectual property rights field, the country's top court and top procuratorate said.

From 2018 to 2022, Chinese judicial authorities strengthened protection of IP rights to facilitate innovation-driven development, with harsher punishments for IP infringements, according to work reports of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Supreme People's Court.

The reports were submitted on Tuesday to the ongoing first session of the 14th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, for deliberation.

In terms of improving legal services for innovation-driven development, courts across the country intensified IP protection of key technologies and emerging and major industries, Zhou Qiang, president of the SPC, said while briefing national lawmakers on the SPC report.

According to the report, judges heard a number of cases involving high-tech areas such as 5G communication, new energies, new materials and high-end equipment manufacturing.

Data showed that courts across the country concluded more than 2.19 million IP cases between 2018 and 2022, up 221.1 percent compared with the previous five-year period.

Given frequent public complaints that penalties for IP infringements were too low, courts nationwide increased punitive damages against violators. The amount of compensation awarded in IP infringement cases in 2022 rose by 153 percent compared with 2018, the report said.