BEIJING - Chinese courts convicted 1.05 million people last year in its drive to punish crimes and safeguard stability, 4.4 percent more than in 2010, according to a report from China's supreme court Sunday.

The courts concluded 840,000 criminal cases in 2011, up 7.7 percent from 2010, said the report on the work of the Supreme People's Court, delivered by chief justice Wang Shengjun at a meeting of the ongoing annual parliamentary session.

Of the convicted, some 105,000 were found guilty of serious crimes such as homicide, kidnapping, robbery, planting bombs, organizing mafia-like gangs and human trafficking, involving 69,000 cases, the report said.

Another 29,000 criminals in 27,000 cases were punished for embezzlement, bribery and malfeasance, the report said.

In the wake of high-profile food safety scandals, Chinese courts also stepped up their work against related crimes, sentencing 320 people for producing and selling toxic, harmful food or additives in 278 cases.

Nearly 1,900 people were punished in 1,400 work safety-related crimes, the report said.

The supreme court also strengthened its supervision over local courts in cases involving serious crimes, Wang said.

"We have seriously implemented the principle of 'combining leniency with rigidity,'" he said.

Under the current law, all death sentences should be submitted to the supreme court for review.

The supreme court had made sure that capital penalty only be imposed on "very few criminals in extremely serious cases," Wang said.