Circuit court begins hearing first appeals

The First Circuit Court of the Supreme People's Court heard its first dispute on Monday in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, a move designed to ease the burden on the country's top court.

The petitioner, a high-tech company, appealed to the SPC after the higher people's court in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region denied a motion asking a machinery company to bear the liability for breach of contract worth more than 300 million yuan ($48 million).

To ease the pressure on the top court, the SPC opened the country's first two circuit courts, in Shenzhen and Shenyang, Liaoning province.