BEIJING -- A total of 18,874 criminal cases on environmental resources were dealt with by Chinese courts in 2016, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) said Thursday.

Up to 23,727 people were sentenced, while the number of cases accepted stood at 20,394, according to the SPC.

Zheng Xuelin, presiding judge of the court for environmental resources cases at the SPC, gave out the numbers at a press briefing.

Among the cases closed, 1,847 were for pollution, accounting for the sentences of 2,944 people. The other 17,027 were on damaging natural resources, resulting in 20,783 convictions.

Courts handled 84,664 civil cases on environmental resources in 2016, out of 90,769 accepted, according to Zheng.

The SPC also published details ten typical cases on environmental resources on Thursday, which Zheng hoped would guide the people's courts at all levels in dealing with such cases.