According to a work report from the Supreme People’s Court released on March 12, companies in China will soon be gaining more protection for their copyrights and trademarks.

The report delivered by Chief Justice Zhou Qiang to the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s legislature, said China will step up the trials of intellectual property rights (IPR) cases in 2017. It also noted that China last year improved IPR protection rules by making judiciary interpretations on the trials of certain kinds of cases, including patent right issues.

According to the work report of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) China last year prosecuted about 21,000 people for IPR-related crimes. The report also stated that the SPP will prioritize the punishment of IPR-related criminal cases this year.