China sees drop in criminal cases in H1

The first half of 2020 saw a decline in the number of criminal cases across China amid the COVID-19 epidemic, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Monday.

Procuratorates across the country approved or initiated the arrest of 280,333 suspects between January and June, down 47.1 percent from the same period last year, according to data released by the SPP.

The number of suspects prosecuted in the first six months dropped by 15.9 percent year on year to 673,310, the data showed.

The data also indicated a rise in telecom fraud cases during the same period.