China's top judicial authorities have released reader-friendly digital versions of their annual work reports.

The Supreme People's Court and the top prosecuting authority, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, presented their reports for discussion at the annual session of the National People's Congress on Sunday.

By scanning a QR code on the first page of the SPC report, smartphone users can access a "virtual" court to read about last year's performance and its targets for 2017. The digital version also features speeches by Zhou Qiang, president of the top court.

The paper report has another 22 QR codes scattered throughout that link to multimedia features, including a video that explains how judges hear cases.

In presenting the SPC report, Zhou said he has highlighted the need for courts to harness the power of new media and advanced technology in recent years so "we can provide better legal services to citizens".

He urged judicial authorities nationwide to speed up efforts to build "smart courts" this year by making full use of big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, with the aim to improve the efficiency of hearings and communicate better with the public.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate inserted 16 QR codes in its work report.