It is the principle for the defendant to appear in court for trial, and the default judgment is the exception.
The first paragraph of Article 291 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that in criminal proceedings, corruption and bribery crimes need to be tried in time. In criminal cases approved by the Supreme People's Procuratorate that seriously endanger national security and terrorist activities, the criminal suspects and defendants are abroad, and the supervisory organs and public security organs transfer them for prosecution. If the people's procuratorate believes that the facts of the crime have been ascertained and the evidence is really sufficient, and criminal responsibility should be investigated according to law, the defendant will not appear in court.
Paragraph 2 of Article 291 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that the case mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be tried by a collegial panel composed of the place where the crime was committed, the defendant's residence before leaving the country or an intermediate people's court designated by the Supreme People's Court.