Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), called for fully advancing the construction of smart courts and the modernization of the trial system and trial capacity so as to better serve judgment execution and socioeconomic development.

Zhou made the remarks while presiding over the first plenary meeting of the SPC leading group for network security and informatization in 2022. A series of documents, including the leading group's work report in 2021 and major to-do list in 2022, a five-year development plan (2022-26) for the informatization of people’s courts, and other guidelines concerning data security, were reviewed at the meeting. Presentations on the achievements of the one-stop dispute resolution and litigation service system application, the judicial data middle ground and the "smart court brain" were also made.

Zhou acknowledged the progress made in 2021 in smart court development, specifically regarding judicial big data, the judicial data middle ground and the "smart court brain". Three regulations concerning online litigation, mediation and operation have been launched, which synergized with each other and became the first in the world to form a comprehensive and systematic internet judicial regulation system, he said.

Zhou called for thorough understanding of the central authorities' latest instructions on the national cyber development strategy and adopting a people-centered approach in building smart courts, in a bid to create a world-leading internet judicial model with Chinese characteristics and contribute to the modernization of the governance system and capacity of the country.

He emphasized that experiences need to be drawn while smart courts strive for technological breakthroughs. Courts nationwide should strengthen cooperation with scientific research institutions to pursue substantial breakthroughs in the application of technologies, such as artificial intelligence, in the judicial sector, focus on enhancing the service capacity of the "smart courts brain" and building of innovative application scenarios in areas such as judgment execution and litigation services, improve integration and optimization of application systems for easier navigation and better user experiences, and further enhance active data recommendation services and application capacity so as to offer high-quality references for decision making and propel social governance, he added.

Efforts are also needed in network security and data security, as well as the building of a clean and honest administration, Zhou noted.