China's top court called for increasing support for the judges who hear cases at courts of the basic level at a meeting on Feb 16.

Xu Jiaxin, director of the political department of China's Supreme People's Court, demanded overall planning at the provincial level to properly address the issue of over-worked judges in those courts.

Statistics show that courts at the basic level in China heard and concluded over 16.88 million cases in 2016, accounting for 85.3 percent of the national total. The average workload of judges in those courts is high.

Xu said that more court workers should be directly involved with cases through overall planning, especially in basic level courts in less-developed areas.

Various innovative methods, including the hiring of judicial personnel and purchasing of social services, should be used to increase court support staff.