Procuratorates across China handled 109,000 public interest litigation cases in the first half of 2023, up 0.5 percent from the same period of last year, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Wednesday.

Procuratorates nationwide filed 5,308 public interest litigations between January and June, a 9.7-percent-rise year on year, the top procuratorate said.

The procuratorates handled 53,000 public interest litigation cases involving the ecological environment and resource protection during the period, and filed litigations against 15,000 people suspected of damaging the environment and resources, the SPP said, adding that actions have been taken to crack down on crimes such as illegal fishing and sand mining along the Yangtze River.