Resident-vs-government suits spurred by new law

Lawsuits against central and Beijing government departments have substantially increased since a law was adopted last year easing residents' path to challenge official administrations in court.

Beijing courts agreed to hear 10,786 administrative disputes from May 1, 2015, when the Chinese Administrative Procedure Law took effect, to April 20, a year-on-year increase of 111 percent, according to a Beijing High People's Court report issued on Friday.

According to the report, the central government was named as defendant in 1,866 cases - up by 450 percent year-on-year - and Beijing municipal departments in 526 cases - a 525 percent increase.