On Nov 23, Zhou Qiang, chief justice and president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) of China, met with Gibuma Gibbs Salika, chief justice of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, via video link.

Zhou Qiang, chief justice and president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) of China, meets with Gibuma Gibbs Salika, chief justice of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, via video link. [Photo/court.gov.cn]

Zhou said that China and Papua New Guinea are good friends, partners and brothers, and the two countries have extensive cooperation in various fields, which has become a model of solidarity, coordination and mutual benefits among developing countries. The supreme courts of the two countries have maintained long-term friendly exchanges, jointly implemented consensus reached by the two heads of state, deepened pragmatic cooperation in judicial areas, and contributed to the socioeconomic development of both countries and the building of a closer China-Pacific Island countries community with a shared future.

Zhou briefed Salika on the recently concluded 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), as well as China's judicial reforms and smart court construction. He said the 20th CPC National Congress made major strategic arrangements for the next five years and beyond on upholding the rule of law in all respects and promoting China's law-based governance. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, courts in China have striven to achieve justice for all through trials of each case and build a socialist judicial system that is fair, efficient and authoritative, which has yielded the continuous enhancement of judicial quality, efficiency and credibility, according to Zhou.

He said that the SPC of China is ready to work with its counterpart in Papua New Guinea and deepen cooperation in areas such as judge training, case study exchanges, informatization development and the uniform application of laws, in a bid to provide strong judicial services for the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

The attendees of the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea applauded China's achievements in its people-oriented judiciary and smart court construction. They introduced the online litigation and judge training in their country, and expressed hope for deeper cooperation with their Chinese counterpart for joint judiciary development in both countries and a higher level bilateral ties.