MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Beijing will create an international judicial center that will specialize in solving maritime issues in order to protect Chinese interests and maritime rights, President of China's Supreme People's Court Zhou Qiang said Sunday.
"[We] must resolutely safeguard China's national sovereignty, maritime rights and other core interests…[We] must improve the work of maritime courts and build an international maritime judicial center," Zhou said, as quoted by Xinhua news agency.
He added that the country had the largest number of maritime courts in the world that had solved the biggest number of maritime cases in comparison with other states.
China, which is trying to expand its maritime influence, has been involved in a number of maritime disputes with other Asia-Pacific states, particularly on the issue of the territorial claims over a number of islands located in the South China Sea.
