国内英语新闻:China vows greater efforts in clearing backlog of court verdicts

BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) has urged more efforts to clear the backlog of cases as a campaign to complete long-delayed verdicts had seen positive results.

Various local departments were urged to be "fully aware" of the importance of the speedy execution of court orders and tackling the backlog of cases, said a statement released Tuesday after a meeting on backlogged cases.

The meeting was jointly held by the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the SPC.

Statistics cited in the statement show that since a campaign on clearing backlogged cases started in November 2008, long-delayed verdicts for more than 333,000 property cases had been completed.

In addition, more than 3 million cases not involving properties had also been cleared.

The two organizations urged police, banks, financial administrative departments, tax departments and other units that might be involved in case execution to fully support and coordinate the enforcement of court orders.

The statement also called for harsher punishments and restrictions in real estate, credit rating and other fields for defendants who refused to follow court orders.

"The campaign is in accordance with the people's interests... and will have positive effects on promoting social harmony and stability," said Wang Lequan, deputy secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, at the meeting.