Online case filing may boost courts' efficiency

Residents of Tianjin and Hebei province may soon not need to travel to Beijing to file lawsuits, as a cross-regional online platform is being explored.

A trial run of the platform in seven courts in the region was launched on Wednesday, including Beijing No 3 Intermediate People's Court, Wuqing District People's Court in Tianjin and Fengrun District People's Court in Tangshan, Hebei, according to a statement from the Beijing High People's Court.

"In the past, I had to drive to courts in Hebei to file cases, which cost me at least three hours," said Ma Wenjia, a lawyer based in Beijing. "But thanks to the platform, I can just go to the capital's No 3 intermediate court and take about 10 minutes to finish all procedures to file the case."