Chinese courts have intensified efforts to punish individuals who resist the enforcement of rulings, including those who destroy evidence or use violence, according to an official from the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) of China.

Over the past decade, more than 37,000 people have been held criminally liable for refusing to comply with court decisions, said Huang Wenjun, head of the Enforcement Department of the SPC.

Huang emphasized the importance of enforcing rulings, saying courts nationwide have implemented various measures to compel defendants to comply with rulings and better protect the rights of those who win lawsuits.

On Monday, he said courts across the country have handled more than 121,000 cases of individuals or organizations refusing to accept rulings over the past 10 years. Courts in several provinces, including Heilongjiang, Jiangsu and Yunnan, launched campaigns last year to crack down on noncompliance.

"Thanks to these actions, defiance of court rulings has been effectively curbed," Huang said.

In one case in November 2020, a court in Tianshui, Gansu province, ordered a resident surnamed Ming to return an apartment to a company and pay fees for occupying the property.

Ming refused to obey court orders until May 2021, when judges arrived at his residence to enforce the ruling. In an attempt to prevent the judicial staff from implementing the court order, he gathered friends and relatives, attracting dozens of onlookers.

To protect the company's rights, the court warned Ming that he would face criminal punishment if he continued to defy the ruling. After receiving the warning, Ming returned the apartment and paid the fees.

While praising the crackdown, Zhou Jiahai, another official from the SPC, called on courts at all levels to improve the efficiency of handling such cases and to standardize enforcement procedures "so that judicial credibility can be upheld and guaranteed".

Huang said individuals who violently resist enforcement, including those who assault or besiege judges, will face harsh punishment.

He added that authorities will intensify efforts in cases where noncompliance leads to serious consequences, such as suicides or self-harm by other parties involved.

In recent years, China has strengthened its social credit system by prioritizing the enforcement of court rulings. One key measure has been the introduction of "cross-enforcement" reforms to accelerate case resolution.

Cross-enforcement applies to civil litigation cases where multiple creditors file claims against the same debtor. When debts are interconnected or overlapping, courts coordinate enforcement across different jurisdictions or divisions.

Through methods such as designation, elevation and inter-court collaboration, cross-enforcement not only enhances the efficiency of ruling enforcement, but also helps prevent the abuse of judicial power and other forms of corruption within the court system.

Since its implementation a year and a half ago, the reform has led to significant progress, with nearly 300,000 cases resolved and 160 billion yuan ($22.6 billion) in payments ordered by courts as of March 31, according to data from the SPC.

In China, individuals, businesses and organizations that fail to comply with court rulings — such as debtors who refuse to repay adjudicated amounts — are placed on a public "dishonest list".

The SPC said 2024 marked the first drop in the number of people on the list in a decade. The number of new entries also fell 9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.