Top court calls for stronger mediation efforts to curb disputes

Chinese courts and justice departments have pledged to strengthen efforts to reduce and prevent disputes, with an aim to offer more professional mediation services.

The pledge was made when the Supreme People's Court, China's top court, and the Ministry of Justice jointly held a working meeting on mediation on Sunday.

Highlighting the importance of using mediation to resolve conflicts, Zhang Jun, president of the top court, called on judges to organize mediators to participate in case hearings — with better training provided for them — to enhance social governance.

Regarding mediation as a priority job, Minister of Justice He Rong said that it is essential to resolve disputes centered around major industries involving enterprises. The building of a national mediation work information platform should be accelerated, she said, adding that the professionalism of mediation institutes also needs to be improved.

In addition, she encouraged lawyers to help mediate disputes, particularly when it comes to commercial cases.

Data released by the ministry on Saturday showed that China has more than 3.17 million of mediators, 17,000 individual mediation workshops and 13,000 lawyer mediation centers. About 14.94 million disputes were resolved by mediation institutes in 2022.

Mediation work has improved in fields such as healthcare, employment, property management, internet, intellectual property, financial insurance and tourism, the ministry said.

It welcomed apps and WeChat mini programs created by justice departments in Chongqing and the provinces of Henan and Yunnan to help mediate disputes, adding that it is necessary to make full use of new technologies to make mediation smarter and more efficient.