SHANGHAI -- Shanghai will set up a special court to handle bankruptcy cases on Feb 1, local authorities said Tuesday.

The news was revealed by Liu Xiaoyun, president of the Shanghai Higher People's Court, during the ongoing annual session of the municipal legislature.

Liu did not disclose more details about the court.

Zhu Zhengwei, a Shanghai legislator and chairman of Shanghai Lijin Economic and Trade Co. Ltd. said the court could improve efficiency in handling bankruptcy cases.

On Jan 14, Shenzhen set up a bankruptcy court to primarily handle companies' bankruptcy and compulsory liquidation cases and cross-border bankruptcy cases.

Chinese courts received 9,542 new cases concerning corporate bankruptcy in 2017, an increase of 68.4 percent compared with the previous year, according to the Supreme People's Court.

During the same period, 6,257 corporate bankruptcy cases were concluded by the courts, up 73.7 percent year on year.