China top court encourages greater participation in mediation for conflict resolution

China’s top court has encouraged people from more walks of life to jointly solve disputes through mediation, to meet litigants’ demands and promote the modernization of the country’s governance system and capacity for rule of law.
“We’d like to work with more government agencies and social institutes in mediating disputes, “said Qian Xiaochen, head of the case filing tribunal with the Supreme People’s Court. “We hope our joint efforts can help solve people’s conflicts more efficiently and professionally.”
He made the remarks at a news conference on Saturday, when the top court issued a report on multiple methods of dispute resolution.
He said the top court will extend its online mediation platform, which was established in February 2018, to grassroots areas, including villages and communities, to ensure conflicts can be found in a timely manner and be solved preemptively.
By the end of last year, all Chinese courts have connected with the platform, while mediation teams and mediators that would like to provide services on the platform have also been rapidly rising, Qian said.
As he said, the numbers of mediation teams and mediators on the platform were 1,264 and 13,791 in 2018. The numbers increased to 32,937 and 165,333 respectively in 2020.