On April 9, a seminar on the recently aired TV series Over the Rivers, which is themed on judicial efforts in environmental protection, was held at the Supreme People's Court (SPC). SPC President Zhang Jun and Vice-President Deng Xiuming attended and addressed the gathering.

Zhang pointed out that good film and television productions themed on judicial work should be closely related to the people and their life, focus on issues of common concerns of the public and offer insights from a law-based perspective. He called for stronger cooperation between courts and literary and artistic creation teams to fully tap China's "gold mine" of judicial adjudication practices and create more good works that reflect the people's legal needs, promote the principle underlying rule of law and play a leading role in advancing the law-based social progress.

Deng extended congratulations to the production team on the successful airing of the TV series. He acknowledged the courts' efforts in implementing the central leadership's instructions on literary artistic creations, which yielded a large number of film and television works of excellence. The TV series Over the Rivers comprehensively illustrated the people's courts' practice in implementing the leadership's thoughts on ecological civilization, rule of law and culture, showcased China's achievements in environment-related adjudication in the past decade, greatly popularized legal knowledge on environmental protection, and demonstrated the courts' resolution in practicing the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", he said.

He stressed that creation of court-themed film and television works should focus on the primary tasks of Chinese modernization, tell stories of typical cases in a professional and resonant manner, so that legal knowledge behind those stories are clarified and a law-abiding social atmosphere is fostered. The people-centered approach needs to be upheld in artwork creation, with a focus on fairness and efficiency, he said, calling for frontline court staff to proactively participate in the creation of court-themed film and television works.