On the morning of 11 May 2016, 17 representatives of the National People’s Congress from Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang and other regions were present at our court hearing at the invitation of the Supreme People’s Court. Also present were leaders from the Supreme People’s Court, the provincial People’s Congress, and the Higher People’s Court of the province.

At 9.30am, we started a public court session to hear the dispute in relation to a domestic carriage of goods by waterway between the plaintiff, Haiqi Shipping (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., the defendants, Shanghai Fansheng International Logistics Co., Ltd. and Source Profit Ltd (Qingdao) International, and a third-party, Hainan Haiqi Shipping Co., Ltd. At the hearing, the collegial bench members exchanged timely opinions to ensure clear finding of facts and correct application of law. The hearing strictly followed civil trial procedures established after our provincial judicial reform. The process was rigorous from preparation, investigation, debate, to conclusion. Standardized phrases were used, and the process was concise and compact.

Base on clear finding of facts, the chief judge fully respected the litigants’ wishes and attentively mediated a solution focusing on the established long-term partnership between the parties, their future cooperation and mutual benefit, as well as litigious risks and costs. At the end, the plaintiff and defendants reached a settlement in court. The chief judge notified the litigants of collecting the mediation paper in the courtroom at 4pm on the same day. The NPC representatives listened attentively to the hearing which lasted for nearly an hour and later exchanged thoughts with the judges about some details of the hearing.