Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), reiterated the need to serve the high-quality development of Shenzhen with high-quality judicial services by giving full play to the functions of courts.

He made those remarks while attending the symposium on the 40th anniversary of the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court on Dec 28.

Zhou acknowledged the contributions of the court to Shenzhen's development since its establishment, which made breakthroughs in various aspects of judicial work and offered practical experiences for courts across the nation in reform and innovations. 

In the new era, he urged the court to speed up its pace to build itself into a pilot demonstration court with judicial credibility, legal competitiveness, innovative competence and international influence, while firmly upholding the absolute leadership of the Party over judicial work. Efforts are needed to foster a benign judicial environment in building a demonstration city in a modern socialist country, he said, and the court should adopt a people-centered approach to achieve justice for the people, equally protect all market entities, and intensify protection over intellectual property and the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors in a bid to foster a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized. More efforts are also needed in institutional reform and talent building, he added.