Compared to other convicts, those with drug-related convictions have faced harsher punishments in recent years, and the judicial iron fist that aims to dissuade people from committing drug crimes will continue to hammer down on lawbreakers during the country's effort to cut drug abuse, the country's top court said.

More than 27 percent of defendants in drug-related cases were sentenced to at least five years in prison or were given a death sentence from 2007 to last year countrywide, according to statistics from the Supreme People's Court released on Wednesday, ahead of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking that falls on Thursday.

The proportion of harsh sentences in the nation's southwestern and northeastern regions has been much higher, said Ma Yan, deputy chief judge of the criminal department at the top court.