New office aims to help litigants resolve financial disputes

A new legal office aiming to optimize Beijing's business environment and help litigants efficiently solve financial disputes was established on Thursday.

The office, jointly established by the Beijing Financial Court and the capital's Federation of Industry and Commerce, will provide efficient legal services and offer professional dispute resolutions for litigants, helping them take advantage of better investment or financing resources and protect their property rights, Xue Feng, vice-president of the court, told a news conference.

"Solving financial disputes efficiently will contribute to promoting the city's economic development and building a fair, transparent, predictable and legal business environment," he said.

"Given that some enterprises, especially those focused on technological innovation, are facing operation difficulties amid the ongoing epidemic, the office plans to invite a number of financial experts to share ideas about how to help the companies pay off debts and boost development while judges deal with relevant cases," he said.

He added that the office will also aid small, micro and medium-sized enterprises by helping them restructure debt or optimize their assets.

The court, located in the capital's Xicheng district, was set up in March last year. It specializes in hearing finance-related lawsuits in an effort to help China strengthen its financial oversight, promote financial reform, prevent financial risks, improve the handling of monetary disputes and increase the Chinese judiciary's international influence.

Statistics from the court showed on Thursday that from its establishment to the end of last month, it heard 8,320 financial disputes, of which 513 involved governmental financial supervisory departments.

The Beijing Financial Court is the second such court in the nation. The first opened in Shanghai in 2018.