Beijing moves financial court to economic hub

BEIJING - A court specializing in financial dispute cases was moved Tuesday to Beijing's financial street, where banks, security firms, and consultancies are clustered.

The Financial Street People's Court was moved from the Xicheng district court's compound to the current location to deal with the rise of financial disputes as individual and corporate economic activities grow, said the court's president Liu Jianxun.

The financial court handles about 10,000 cases per year. The amount of money involved in the cases, however, has surged over the last three years to reach 14.4 billion yuan (2.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016.

Liu said credit card fraud, mortgage or car loan disputes, and cases involving fund management, trust and Internet finance are all under the court's jurisdiction.

Financial Street is the economic hub of Beijing with 1,844 financial institutes owning assets worth 95.7 trillion yuan, or 40 percent of the assets owned by financial institutions nationwide. The central bank and financial markets regulators are all located in the area.

The court will have eight judges, 14 assistant judges and 10 support staff. More than half of them hold a master's degree or higher, Liu said.

Cai Huiyong, president of the Xicheng district court, said the move will help the court do better research and have more contact with financial institutions to cope with trends in financial disputes.