The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) held a mobilization meeting on Oct 8 for its 2026 lecture tour in western China. Zhang Jun, president of the SPC, met with all members of the lecturer team ahead of their departure.
Zhang Jun, president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), meets with members of the SPC's lecturer team ahead of their 2026 lecture tour in western China. [Photo/court.gov.cn]
Zhang extended his best wishes to the team members. He noted that the lecture tour is an effective way to advance law-based governance in ethnic minority areas of western China and promote comprehensive law-based governance of the country.
Zhang emphasized the need to integrate political awareness with professional competence. He called on the lecturers to draw on judicial practice to guide court officials in considering case-handling from both political and legal perspectives, ensuring that judicial decisions achieve a balance of political, legal and social outcomes.
He also stressed the importance of sharing effective approaches to adjudication management. Beyond imparting professional knowledge, the lecturers should help court presidents, division heads and judges strengthen their awareness of adjudication management, identify underlying issues reflected in judicial data and typical cases, and continuously improve the quality and efficiency of adjudication.
Zhang called for greater use of technology to support judicial work. Rather than merely addressing immediate challenges in judicial practice, the lecturers should encourage judges to develop independent learning habits and make better use of resources such as the People's Courts Case Database, the online legal consultation platform, the online training platform for judges, and standardized teaching materials. Such efforts, he said, would help establish a lasting mechanism for professional development that remains available even after the tour concludes.
Zhang urged the lecturers to tailor their teaching to the practical needs of courts in western China and local ethnic affairs and adopt a problem-oriented approach. He also called for strict discipline and in-depth research while encouraging mutual learning between lecturers and local court personnel.
Sun Zhenping, head of the SPC's Political Department, attended and addressed the meeting. Sun said the lecture tour is an important initiative for fulfilling the missions of the Party and the judiciary in the new era and building a high-caliber court workforce capable of shouldering the responsibilities of national rejuvenation. It is also a practical measure to implement the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, support high-quality economic and social development in western China, strengthen paired assistance programs, and improve the quality and efficiency of adjudication and enforcement, Sun added.
Sun called on the lecturers to strengthen political guidance, adapt their teaching to the actual needs of courts in western China, and ensure that the training delivers tangible results. He also urged relevant departments to strengthen coordination and provide logistical and organizational support to ensure the smooth implementation of the lecture tour.
Shen Guiping, a member of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission's lecturer team on the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress and a researcher at the Academy of National Institutional Studies of Zhejiang University, delivered the first lecture.
According to the SPC, the 25-member lecturer team will visit courts in seven western provincial-level regions, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Branch High People's Court, from Oct 8 to 16.
