Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) has prioritized trials on family matters in a bid to safeguard the harmony and stability of marriages and families, and has achieved tangible progress, according to a report on trial work on family matters recently released by the SPC.

The number of family-related cases increased from 1.65 million in 2013 to 1.9 million in 2021, an increase of 15 percent. Among them, the number of divorce cases ranked first, accounting for about 70 percent of all family-related cases.

From January 2013 to the end of 2021, courts nationwide had concluded 15.69 million cases on marriage and family inheritance disputes in the first instance, accounting for about 15 percent of all civil cases in the first instance.

In response to topics of major social concern, such as spouse-imposed debt issues and domestic violence, the SPC released related legal interpretations, circulars and directives to fully protect women's financial interests and personal safety in marital relations. As of August 2022, 13,498 personal safety protection orders had been issued by courts across the country.

Efforts have been made to advance reforms of trial methods and working mechanisms for cases involving family matters. In May 2016, the reform kicked off among 118 SPC-appointed intermediate and grassroots level courts across the nation. Cross-departmental meetings were pioneered and a series of mechanisms, including the declaration of common property owned by both the husband and wife, psychological counseling intervention, family investigation, pre-litigation mediation, social care, post-trial visits and divorce certificates, were established.

Work has also been done in optimizing personnel allocation, professional team capacity building and improving supporting facilities to secure smooth trial work on family matters.

In terms of promoting core socialist values by fully tapping the demonstration role of judicial judgment in family-related trials, the SPC has intensified protection over special groups, such as the disabled, the elderly and women, by releasing typical cases and judicial directives. In 2021, the SPC and the China Disabled Persons' Federation jointly released ten typical cases concerning the protection of rights for persons with disabilities, in a bid to secure their equal access to a social life and the achievements of social development.

In 2021 and 2022, the SPC released typical cases on rights protection of the elderly in a bid to penalize behaviors such as living off of parents and financial fraud.

On International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in 2020, the SPC jointly released ten typical cases on personal safety protection orders with the All-China Women's Federation and the China Women Judges Association. It reinforced the country's zero tolerance to domestic violence and the promotion of an equal, harmonious and civilized family atmosphere.