Zhou Qiang, chief justice of China, and Sundaresh Menon, chief justice of Singapore, held a work meeting via video link on Feb 7.

Zhou Qiang, chief justice and president of the Supreme People's Court of China, holds a work meeting with Sundaresh Menon, chief justice of Singapore, via video link, Feb 7, 2023. [Photo/court.gov.cn]

Zhou, also president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) of China, said that with the joint efforts of the supreme courts of the two countries, the China-Singapore Legal and Judicial Roundtable mechanism has been continuously improved, bilateral judicial cooperation has been comprehensively deepened, and a series of positive outcomes have been achieved, setting a good example for cooperation among the courts of countries along the Belt and Road.

He introduced China's latest development in law-based governance, saying that the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) made specific plans for exercising law-based governance on all fronts and advancing the rule of law in China. Courts in China have striven to implement the guiding principles of the congress, continued to drive judicial reform and smart court construction, released three sets of rules on online litigation, mediation and operation, as well as opinions on strengthening judicial application of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence, which pushed forward the deep integration of sci-tech innovations and judicial work and enhanced China’s judicial quality, efficiency and credibility. He pledged to work together with the Supreme Court of Singapore, deepen cooperation in areas such as judge training, case study exchanges, informatization, and unification of law application in a bid for new development of bilateral judicial cooperation and joint contribution to long-term bilateral friendly relations and high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

Menon applauded the achievements of bilateral judicial cooperation and spoke of the roadmap for future cooperation. He said that China and Singapore have continuously deepened judicial exchanges and cooperation with results of milestone significance. This roundtable mechanism has brought a series of key consensuses and laid a solid foundation for future cooperation. He hoped to deepen pragmatic cooperation based on previous experiences, strengthen exchanges and mutual learning, share useful experiences to jointly set a new benchmark for high-quality judicial cooperation and make new achievements in judicial undertakings of the two countries.