The 29th National Maritime Trial Seminar was held in Beihai, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on April 13. Permanent member of the Supreme People's Court's judicial committee Wang Shumei and President of the High People's Court of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region Huang Hailong attended the event.

The meeting emphasized the need to reinforce political foundations at courts nationwide to ensure the correct direction of theoretical research on maritime trials and to carry out in-depth research and studies. The functional role of maritime trials need to be fully tapped and the Party leadership upheld throughout trials in order to properly resolve maritime-related disputes with justice and efficiency, equally protect the legitimate rights and interests of domestic and foreign litigants, and build a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized. Efforts are also needed to foster a high-quality maritime trial team with loyalty, expertise, integrity and an international perspective.

In recent years, courts in Guangxi have striven to develop the maritime court in Beihai, greatly contributing to the protection of China's maritime rights and maritime ecology, promoting the maritime economy, and safeguarding the implementation of national strategies such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Western Land-Sea New Corridor, and the China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

The seminar focused on such topics as research on issues related to maritime justice against the background of the implementation of the Civil Code, the amendment of the law on special procedures for maritime litigation, and the development of maritime judicial services towards the maritime economy. Presidents of 11 maritime courts across the nation, leaders of corresponding tribunals at high people's courts dealing with maritime appeal cases, experts and scholars, and representatives of award-winning authors also attended the seminar.