SHANGHAI -- The country's first court dealing specifically with financial disputes opened in Shanghai on Thursday.

The court, under the jurisdiction of the Shanghai Pudong New Area District People's Court, will deal with banking, securities and insurance cases involving not more than 50 million yuan ($7.35 million). There are plans in the future to include more categories.

"The establishment of the court will help create a more stable environment for Pudong's financial market, and further build Shanghai into an international financial center," Ding Shouxing, director of the Pudong people's court, said.

Pudong, the financial hub of Shanghai, is witnessing an increasing number of related crimes and lawsuits, he said.

"And as the market develops, more financial services and products are being introduced," he said.

Since 2006, the Pudong people's court has heard 158 criminal cases and 5,603 financial ones involving more 1.6 billion yuan. This year, one of the major cases was a 49.5 billion yuan loan contracts dispute.

"Many cases are more or less related to the country's macroeconomic system and financial regulations," Ding said.

"Any mistake (with such cases) could affect the future development of the market or even social stability."

The new court will speed up the procedure for the hearing of cases. It will also seek to employ more financial experts, provide advanced training for its judges, establish regular communication with financial institutions, and publish court case studies to further develop the sophistication of the local financial market, he said.