China has established the country's second circuit court in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province, joining the first one, in the southern city of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, set up set up earlier last week, with both of them handling their first cases on Monday, Xinhua News Agency has reported.

China selected nine presiding judges and four officials, on Sunday, for the court in Shenyang, which will have the same powers as the Supreme People's Court in Beijing, in dealing with cross-province cases. They will also work with local communities in handling cases directly to save time, so that a person with a lawsuit in eastern or southern provinces have to travel all the way to Beijing.

The Shenyang court will have jurisdiction over three northeaster provinces -- Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang -- while the Shenzhen court, will have jurisdiction over Guangdong and Hainan provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous gegion. They are also seen as a way of increasing judicial independence, by reducing local official's power to interfere in the judiciary.