Supreme People’s Court to research bullying

China's top court said on Friday it will augment legal research on school bullying and sexual assault involving children to better protect juveniles' rights.

"We're making greater efforts in fighting crime involving juveniles, especially those who get sexually harmed or bullied on campus," said Jiang Qibo, head of research office with the Supreme People's Court. "We're also considering providing related legislative suggestions to lawmakers to improve laws in practice."

He made the remarks during a press conference on Children's Day.

He also said the top court will increase punishments to those making use of the internet to damage youngsters, "as cyberspace in the past few years has become a harder-hit section, where it is easier for children to commit crimes or get harmed."

Also on Friday the highest justice authority released a report on juvenile crime. It asserted the number of cases in which juveniles were criminals has been rapidly declining in recent five years, thanked to the increasing strength of children's protection and education from all walks of life.

Theft was the top offense among juveniles, followed by robbery and intentional injury, the report said.