Delegates for the Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Judicial Cooperation Forum attend an exhibition of judicial culture on Sept 25 in Dunhuang, Gansu province. [Photo/The People's Courts News and Communication Agency]

Zhou Qiang, chief justice and president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) of China, welcomed senior judicial officials from Kazakhstan, Sudan, Tajikistan, Russia, Egypt, Kyrghyzstan, Moldova, Portugal and Turkey to the Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Judicial Cooperation Forum.

He said the Belt and Road Initiative boosts cooperation in many different sectors, including economics and trade, culture, and security.

Exchanges and cooperation in the judicial sector are also developing fast, according to Zhou.

The forum, said Zhou, marks a new era for pragmatic judicial cooperation and will further promote relevant exchanges.

Zhou introduced China’s progress in implementing the rule of law and enforcing judicial reform, saying that courts of various levels in China are working hard to achieve the goal of “l(fā)etting the people feel fairness and justice in every single case.”

Courts in China are breaking bottlenecks to build a fair and highly-efficient socialist judicial system.

Smart courts around the country are promoting inter-connectivity and data sharing to increase trial quality and benefit the public.

China’s first internet court was set up in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on August 18 to explore positive new trial procedures.

China’s courts are deepening judicial openness - setting up four platforms to give the public free access to trial processes, judgment documents, and enforcement information - to build an open, dynamic, transparent and people-oriented judicial mechanism.

Memoranda of understanding on exchanges and cooperation were signed between China and both Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.