Key changes to China's judicial system since 2012

Judges from the Second Circuit Court of China's Supreme People's Court take their oaths of office. The court was established on Jan 31, 2015 in Shenyang, capital city of Liaoning province. The new circuit courts are part of a series of reforms designed to better deal with the workloads of courts across the country. [Photo/China Daily]

3. Circuit courts established across the country

In 2015, the Supreme People's Court set up its first and second circuit courts in Shenzhen and Shenyang for major cross-regional administrative, civil and commercial cases. That year, the circuit courts handled 1,774 cases and concluded 1,653 of them, concluding all cases within the time limit.

The year before, people's courts and people's procuratorates transcending administrative boundaries were established in Beijing and Shanghai to handle major cross-regional criminal, civil and administrative cases.

This was to address certain parties' concerns over the jurisdiction of their cases, and to promote the unified and correct application of laws.