The financial court in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, heard its first case on Jan 16 since its establishment in late 2017.

The case is about a financing contract dispute concerning a tech company.

Set up on Dec 26, the court, the first of its kind in the country, is located in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone.

The court handles financial cases other than those falling under the jurisdiction of community courts, and appeals.

Its establishment is aimed at addressing the large and growing number of financial cases in Shenzhen, a front-runner in the country in terms of finance and technological innovation.

In the first eleven months of 2016, Shenzhen courts handled 23,639 financial cases of first instance, twice the number in the same period last year.