Shenzhen sets up finance, IP protection courts

SHENZHEN -- Southern Chinese city of Shenzhen Tuesday set up a financial court and an intellectual property (IP) court.

The two courts are located in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone.

The IP court is empowered by the Supreme People's Court to deal with IP cases under the jurisdiction of Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. The financial court will handle financial cases other than those falling under the jurisdiction of community courts, and appeals.

The move addresses the large and growing number of financial and IP cases in Shenzhen, a front-runner in the country in terms of finance and technological innovation.

In 2016, courts in Shenzhen adjudicated on 14,887 IP cases of first instance, or one 10th of the nation's total. In the first eleven months, Shenzhen courts handled 23,639 financial dispute cases of first instance, twice the number in the same period last year.