China has seen an eight-year decline in drug cases and the number of defendants involved, a trend the top court on Tuesday attributed to the severe punishments against such crimes.

In 2023, courts across the country concluded 33,401 drug cases at the first instance, resulting in legally effective judgments against 49,603 individuals, marking drops of 10.41 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively, compared to the previous year, according to the Supreme People's Court.

Nearly 11,000 of them were sentenced to five years or more in prison in 2023, registering a heavy sentence rate of 22.12 percent, said the court, adding that it marked 14 percentage points higher than the figure among all criminal cases sentenced during the period.

The data was unveiled at a press conference ahead of this year's International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which falls on Wednesday.

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