On November 13, 2025, the Eighth National Criminal Trial Work Conference (hereinafter referred to as the “Eighth Criminal Conference”) was held in Beijing. The National Criminal Trial Conference is the highest-level professional conference in China’s judicial field. Industry observers generally regard the Eighth Criminal Conference as an unusual meeting, carrying high expectations. Although the meeting minutes have not yet been published, the press release from the Supreme People’s Court reveals the guiding ideology, direction, and focus of criminal justice over the next five years. This conference is also of great significance for criminal legal services, both indicating key areas for such services and raising new requirements for criminal legal service providers.

I. Demand for Legal Services in Cyber and Economic Crimes Will Continue to Grow

The Eighth Criminal Conference disclosed the total number and trends of first-instance criminal cases concluded by courts nationwide from 2020 to 2024. Financial crimes and crimes against women and children decreased by 15.51% and 16.75%, respectively. Serious violent crimes such as intentional homicide, robbery, and kidnapping decreased by 6.75% compared with the previous five years. Crimes of “robbery, snatching, and theft of motor vehicles” decreased by 33.26% compared with the previous five years. New types of cyber crimes and economic crimes showed an upward trend. This indicates that since 2019, significant changes have occurred in social patterns and the structure of criminal cases.

(A) Complexity of Cyber Crime Trial Creates Larger Space for Legal Services

With the rapid development of information technology, cyber crimes continue to occur at a high rate. The dissemination of personal information, “internet water army” activities, and “two-card” crimes seriously threaten the safety of people’s lives and property. Although legislation on cyber crimes has timely brought cyberspace within the scope of legal regulation, difficulties in evidence collection and review, determination of criminal facts, application of law, and recovery of stolen goods and proceeds have persistently plagued criminal trials. Particularly in recent years, the structure and form of cyber crimes have undergone significant changes, with decentralization and node-based characteristics seriously impacting traditional theories of joint crime. The界分 of adjacent charges remains a challenge, leading to inconsistent application of law by different courts or by the same court at different times for similar cases. Difficulties coexist with opportunities—these issues leave room for criminal defense work but also test the comprehensive capabilities of lawyers.

(B) Increase in Economic Crimes Drives Demand for Legal Services

Regarding economic crimes, corporate compliance has expanded from state-owned enterprises to private enterprises. Anti-fraud campaigns in private enterprises have deepened, exposing many long-concealed economic crimes. The Golden Tax Phase IV system leaves no room for illegal activities involving false issuance of special VAT invoices. With China’s continued推进 of the strategy to build a strong intellectual property country, intellectual property crimes are also on the rise. The Eighth Criminal Conference explicitly stated that cases involving fraud against the elderly and vulnerable populations, harming farmers and agriculture, production and sale of toxic and harmful food, and adulterated and inferior drugs should be severely punished in accordance with law. Economic crimes are difficult to investigate and even more difficult to defend, but suspects have stronger purchasing power, and the increase in case numbers will inevitably drive growth in service demand.

The author believes that areas of dispute are areas of uncertain interests, where professional lawyers can make a difference. Protecting the lawful rights and interests of clients can体现 the individual value of criminal legal services. Finding legal boundaries through prosecution-defense confrontation and improving legal systems can体现 the social value of criminal legal services.

II. Accurately Grasping Criminal Justice Policies Provides Institutional Support for Effective Criminal Legal Services

There has always been a saying in criminal legal services: “The fate of a client is closely related to criminal justice policy.” This places specific demands on lawyers: to accurately grasp criminal justice policies and provide accurate and effective legal services to clients. The Eighth Criminal Conference proposed five aspects of criminal justice policy, combining general and specific approaches.

(A) Overall Judicial Policy

1. Overall Layout of Criminal Justice Over the Next Five Years

The Eighth Criminal Conference systematically laid out criminal judicial work in five areas: establishing correct criminal justice concepts, severely punishing serious criminal offenses in accordance with law, punishing frequent, high-occurrence, and new types of crimes in accordance with law, maintaining the quality lifeline of criminal trials, and deepening judicial reform and team building in the criminal field. The会议 proposed the judicial philosophy of “combining professional legal judgment with the public’s perception of fairness and justice,” marking a new requirement for criminal justice to value both legal logic and common sense, and for adjudication results to conform to both legal norms and the public’s simple sense of fairness and justice. Crimes endangering national security, gang-related crimes, and corruption crimes will be key areas of crackdown, reflecting the Party’s leadership role in criminal trial work and clarifying the导向 of future criminal justice serving the overall work of the Party and the state. The conference actively responded to social concerns, focusing on cracking down on crimes involving infringement of citizens’ personal information and “internet water army” crimes, filling legal gaps. The会议 emphasized strict control over legal policies, factual evidence, and procedural application, balancing punishment and governance, substantiating retrial corrections, and effectively maintaining fairness and justice.

2. Development of the Criminal Policy of Combining Leniency with Severity

For crimes that seriously endanger national security and social stability, seriously harm the interests of the people, or seriously challenge legal and ethical底线, severe punishment must be imposed in accordance with law. For minor offenses with limited harm, or those with statutory or discretionary circumstances of leniency, leniency should be reflected in accordance with law.

(B) Specific Judicial Policies

1. Juvenile Delinquency Education and Punishment Policy

The Eighth Criminal Conference provided policy guidance for juvenile delinquency: “implementing a combination of leniency and severity, combining punishment with education, and strengthening the prevention and governance of juvenile delinquency.” It requires reasonable differentiation: for juvenile offenders with deep subjective malice, heinous circumstances, serious harm, especially those who repeatedly refuse to reform and pose significant personal danger, there should be no leniency or tolerance—resolute punishment in accordance with law; for juvenile defendants with minor circumstances, first-time or occasional offenses, and a good attitude of confession and remorse, punishment should be effectively integrated with education, rehabilitation, and redemption efforts to help juveniles smoothly return to society.

2. Judicial Policy for Combating Cyber Crimes

The会议 proposed for cyber crimes: “Improve judicial rules, focusing on new issues such as the disposal of virtual currencies involved in cases, live streaming of obscene performances, jurisdiction over cyber crime cases, and electronic data取证 and authentication; severely crack down on cross-border cyber gambling crimes, and pursue the criminal liability of network platforms that provide services for overseas gambling and disseminate gambling-related harmful information in accordance with law; increase the crackdown on upstream black and gray industry crimes such as infringement of citizens’ personal information, severely punish ‘insider traitors’ within industries, and apply occupational bans in accordance with law.”

3. Judicial Policy for Death Penalty Review

The policy of “retaining the death penalty, strictly controlling and cautiously applying it” will continue to be implemented consistently. The会议 emphasized the need to effectively发挥 the deterrent and震慑作用 of the death penalty, and resolutely apply the death penalty in accordance with law for extremely serious crimes such as those seriously endangering national security, indiscriminate killing, harming minors, and for criminals deeply detested by the people.

III. New Requirements for Criminal Lawyers from the Eighth Criminal Conference

(A) Elevate Political Awareness and Accurately Understand Criminal Justice Policies

The Eighth Criminal Conference once again emphasized the Party’s absolute leadership over criminal trial work; emphasized the necessity of consciously integrating Xi Jinping’s Thought on the Rule of Law as the “outline” and “soul” into all aspects and the entire process of criminal trial work; insisted on adhering to the people-centered development philosophy; insisted on fully and accurately implementing the criminal policy of combining leniency with severity; insisted on adhering to the basic principles of criminal justice; insisted on unifying the punishment of crime with the protection of human rights. Moreover, criminal justice serves the political positioning of the Party and the state’s overall work, requiring lawyers to elevate their standing and accurately understand criminal justice policies. Criminal defense work has two levels: the value level and the operational level. Whether there is legal interest damage and the causal relationship between the act and the damage must first be determined in defense work. Then, at the operational level, the defense strategy must be implemented on the ground. The basis for accurate determination of legal interest damage is the accurate understanding of criminal justice policies.

(B) Enhance Analytical Skills and Conduct Case-Specific Analysis

The Eighth Criminal Conference, in various aspects such as the development of the criminal policy of combining leniency with severity, handling of juvenile delinquency, and disposal of cyber crimes, requires differentiation based on different circumstances and appropriate application of criminal justice policies. This is the redevelopment of Marxist principles in criminal trial work under the new background, with the core being case-specific analysis. In criminal legal services, lawyers should also enhance their analytical skills, conducting case-specific analysis, accurately determining applicable charges, accurately identifying circumstances of severity or leniency, and accurately applying “rules of reason” to争取 greater lawful interests for clients.

(C) Enhance Reasoning Ability and Achieve Effective Defense by Combining Law and Reason

Legal judgment is a professional rational judgment that is distant from the public’s simple perception of fairness and justice. For example, the criminal law provides that a perpetrator’s ignorance of the law cannot serve as grounds for exemption from criminal punishment. However, based on the public’s simple perception, ignorance of the law indicates that the perpetrator lacks subjective fault for the crime. If a lawyer simply says the law so provides, it may leave the client puzzled as to why the legal provision seems unreasonable and incomprehensible. The Eighth Criminal Conference proposed the judicial philosophy of “combining professional legal judgment with the public’s perception of fairness and justice,” which needs to be implemented in trial work. Similarly, in criminal legal services, this requirement must also be implemented, with solid explanation and reasoning work, both demonstrating the lawyer’s professionalism and enabling the client to calmly face the trial outcome, achieving a clean and clear resolution.

Zhang Shuhui

Email: zhangshuhui@longanlaw.com

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense and Complaint, Commercial Dispute Resolution, Labor and Employment Dispute Resolution, Corporate Internal Control and Compliance