Chinese courts at the grassroots level have adjudicated some 20.8 million cases since June 2000, or 5.2 million each year, latest statistics from the Supreme People's Court show.

Most parties involved in these cases obey the trial of first instance and do not lodge an appeal to a superior court, with the rate of appeal standing at only 12 percent, according to a latest survey of the Supreme People's Court.

Sixteen percent of these cases have been changed from the original sentence, or ordered for rehearing, at the trial of second instance, the survey says.

President of the Supreme People's Court Xiao Yang praises the work of grassroots courts as "full of achievements", saying that they make great contributions to the social stability, economic and social development, and safeguarding the legitimate rights of citizens, corporations, and other organizations.

China's courts are graded into four levels, the Supreme People's Court, higher people's courts, intermediate people's courts, and people's courts at the grassroots level.

Presently, China has more than 3,000 grassroots courts, and 10,392 grassroots courtrooms across the country.

And the number of judges at the grassroots level, or 148,192 in total, constitute 76 percent of all the judges around China. Among them, 230,000 judges have received professional training over the past four years.

"Judges of people's courts at the grassroots level have the most contacts with the ordinary people," said Xiao Yang.

In order to further improve their legal work, China has just kicked off a massive program to train all the judges of the people's courts at the district or county level in the coming three years, said Xiao Yang.

The training program will offer courses on trial expertise and judges' exchange of experience concerning court trials.

"To enhance the skills of these judges is meant to raise the overall quality of judges in China as a whole, and improve people's impression on the judges contingent," said Xiao Yang.

Source: Xinhua