In a ceremony for appointing special supervisors, Zhou Qiang, chief justice and president of China's Supreme People's Court (SPC), has underlined the importance of full play being given to the role of these people.

Zhou told those in attendance at the ceremony in Beijing on Oct 11 that the special supervisory system is an important measure to promote socialist judicial system with Chinese characteristics as well as measures on supervision and promoting scientific and democratic decision-making.

Since the system was set up in 2010, those who have been asked to supervise the SPC's work have included deputies of the National People's Congress and members of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

What the special supervisors have performed has greatly helped improve the courts work, Zhou said.

All departments should perform their duties, enforce responsible decision-making and strengthen coordination to guarantee the work of special supervisors, he said.

The quality of the special supervisors' work as well as their efficiency needs to be improved, and he values their opinions and suggestions, he said.

Xu Mingxian，the head of the country's supervision and judicial committee, also attended the ceremony, and said the special supervisors system is a platform through which the work of people's courts can be overseen by the public, and in which judicial democracy and fairness can be promoted.