FUJIAN

World Cities Day event to kick off in Fuzhou

China will hold a celebration for World Cities Day in Fuzhou, Fujian province, from Oct 30 to Nov 1, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. Under the theme of Valuing Our Communities and Cities, the event will exchange and display policies, experiences and practices in promoting sustainable development and improving the living environment in urban areas as the world implements the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and New Urban Agenda, said Hu Zijian, director-general of the ministry's department of planning, finance and foreign affairs, on Friday. Li Zhe, a senior official with the department, said the event will be held online and offline simultaneously. Aside from a live broadcast, short videos and articles with photos of the event will be also presented online to facilitate participation from home and abroad.

BEIJING

Internet courts cut trial time by 70 percent

The use of online methods by China's three internet courts has significantly reduced the time spent on trials, Zhou Qiang, the president of the Supreme People's Court, said on Thursday. The duration of a trial at the internet courts has been reduced to an average 29 minutes, about 73 percent less than an offline trial, Zhou told the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress as he delivered a report on improving civil adjudication to ensure sustained and healthy economic and social development. China's three internet courts, located in Hangzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou, mainly handle civil and administrative cases related to the internet, such as contract disputes involving online shopping, service and small loans, copyright and infringement lawsuits, domain name disputes and some administrative lawsuits.

China Daily - Xinhua