Chinese courts required to focus more on improving foreign-related justice

Chinese courts have been required to focus more on educating talent for handling disputes involving foreign litigants and expand judiciary cooperation in more fields to fully improve the quality and efficiency of foreign-related justice.

The requirements were put forwarded by the Supreme People's Court, the country's top court, when it held a meeting related to the court's work on Friday.

Courts nationwide have been ordered to take a coordinated approach to promoting the rule of law domestically and in matters involving foreign litigants, trying the best to build a higher-level foreign-related trial system.

While planning to recommend more outstanding judges to serve in international organizations and judicial departments in other countries, the top court added that it will also accelerate the cultivation and reserve of talent to meet the needs of China's strategies.

Over the past decade, Chinese courts have stepped up efforts in improving their judicial credibility around the world by increasing international judiciary exchanges and optimizing measures of case handling.

For example, 1,277 judicial officials from 63 countries and regions received legal training provided by Chinese courts in the past 10 years to understand about China's advancement on the rule of law, while three judges from the top court were elected to work for the Administrative Tribunal with the International Labor Organization and the United Nations Appeals Tribunal and Dispute Tribunal.

In June 2018, two international commercial courts were set up in Shenzhen, Guangdong province and Xi'an, Shaanxi province. To assist in mediating between litigants in international commercial disputes and advising the two courts, the top court also established the International Commercial Expert Committee as a think tank in August of that year.

Since 2012, Chinese courts have strengthened the handling of maritime cases, with stronger international cooperation on various aspects, such as those on transnational crimes, cyberspace governance, environmental protection, intellectual property protection as well as global economic and trade rules.

During the period, Chinese judges also shared their judiciary opinions with judicial officials from member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Based on the efforts made to improve the judicial credibility, the top court added on Friday that more litigants from overseas have preferred to choose Chinese courts to solve their disputes.