Residents win more suits against officials

China has seen a significant rise in the number of residents filing - and winning - lawsuits against government departments after a shake-up in the law, the top court said on Tuesday.

Last year, courts nationwide resolved 225,020 such lawsuits, known as administrative cases, an annual increase of 13.2 percent, according to the Supreme People's Court. More than half were related to the plaintiff's livelihood, such as disputes over demolitions.

"In the past, it used to be difficult just to file an administrative case with a civil court, let alone win," said Wang Zhenyu, deputy chief judge of the top court's Administrative Tribunal. But things have changed since the Administrative Procedure Law was revised in 2015, he said.