Proposed Shanghai financial court gets lawmakers' backing

BEIJING, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Lawmakers on China's top legislature have spoken in support of a motion to set up a specialized court in Shanghai to deal with finance-related cases.

Panel discussions were held Thursday at the ongoing National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee bimonthly session on the Supreme People's Court's draft decision to set up Shanghai Financial Court.

Setting up a special financial court could help prevent major financial risks, protect national economic security, and provide legal support for financial activities, agreed by most lawmakers during the deliberation.

The court, at the intermediate people's court level, will be responsible for commercial cases involving securities, bills, financial lending, and administrative cases, said the draft.

Committee member Yin Yicui said in the discussion that the special financial court will improve judicial credibility and trial efficiency in finance-related cases, and improve China's national image globally.

According to a report delivered to the committee Wednesday by Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People's Court, courts in Shanghai have heard more than 179,000 finance-related cases of first instance in 2017.

The number of such lawsuits in Shanghai grew by an average 51 percent year-on-year from 2013 to 2017, said Zhou.

The bimonthly session opened Wednesday, reviewing the draft revision to the Criminal Procedure Law, a draft law on people's assessors, and another to protect the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs, among others.

Panel discussions on items on the agenda are being held from Wednesday to Friday.

On Thursday afternoon, the chairman and vice chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee met and heard the results of the deliberations. The meeting was presided over by Li Zhanshu, the NPC Standing Committee chairman.

The legislative session will end on Friday. Enditem