2015 Another Difficult Year for Criminal Defendants, Data Show

(Beijing) – The number of not guilty verdicts issued by China's courts remained low last year, data from regional courts show, continuing a slide that has been going on for a decade.

Shanghai had the lowest percentage of not-guilty verdicts last year, at 0.02 percent, as only nine people out of more than 37,700 suspects won in a courtroom.

The percentage of not-guilty verdicts is often seen as a sign of judge's competence and the independence of the judicial system.