On Feb 10, Zhang Jun, president of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC), led a delegation to Xinhua News Agency to discuss how they could both work towards better legal news reporting. 

Fu Hua, president of Xinhua News Agency, attended the meeting and delivered remarks. Lyu Yansong, editor-in-chief of Xinhua, chaired the meeting. 

Zhang Jun, president of the Supreme People’s Court, leads a delegation to Xinhua News Agency to discuss how they could both work towards better legal news reporting on Feb 10. [Photo/court.gov.cn]

Representatives from both sides emphasized the need to strengthen communication mechanisms and explore ways to enhance news reporting on judicial work. They noted that court cases provided a rich source of material for news reporting, which the agency can make full use of to communicate legal reasoning behind cases and respond to public doubt with authoritative information. 

They also suggested presenting reform initiatives, development achievements and exemplary practices through vivid and engaging stories to better convey China’s legal system to international audiences. 

Zhang expressed appreciation for Xinhua’s long-standing support for courts by publicizing judicial policies, interpreting typical cases and promoting role models within the court system. He noted that rapid socioeconomic development and evolving domestic and international conditions had brought new challenges to judicial work, including heavy caseloads and the complexity of resolving disputes. 

Against this backdrop, courts have continued to improve their adjudication quality and efficiency, strengthen technological empowerment and advance early-stage dispute prevention — with the goal of ensuring fair, efficient and authoritative justice, according to Zhang.

The fourth plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee outlined key tasks on standardizing the exercise of judicial power, improving mechanisms for achieving and evaluating judicial fairness and enhancing the fairness, stability and authority of adjudications, he noted. 

These priorities not only set new requirements for adjudication work, but also called for deeper court-media cooperation to advance fairness and justice, he added. 

Zhang expressed the hope that Xinhua would continue to provide strong oversight, support and to further strengthen cooperation in areas such as in-depth case reporting, authoritative information releases and the promotion of governance improvements — in order to enhance the quality and amplify the impact of legal news coverage.

Fu noted that with the strong support of the SPC, Xinhua had carried out well-coordinated reporting, strengthened legal publicity and vigorously promoted the spirit of the rule of law — helping to create a favorable public opinion environment for advancing the rule of law. 

He emphasized that Xinhua would continue to deepen communication and cooperation with the SPC by leveraging its strengths in content production, communication channels, professional expertise and technological innovation.

The agency will improve work mechanisms, enhance research, expand international outreach, innovate narrative approaches and strive to produce legal news stories that are thoughtful, engaging and high-quality, Fu said. 

These efforts aim to guide public discourse, uphold judicial fairness, reinforce the authority of the rule of law and further advance law-based governance in China, he added.

Also present at the event were Gao Xiaoli, vice-president of the SPC; Huo Xiaoguang, vice-president of Xinhua News Agency and director of its Domestic News Editorial Department; Chen Erhou, deputy secretary-general and director of the General Office of Xinhua News Agency; as well as representatives from relevant departments of the SPC and Xinhua.