Supreme court issues environmental guidelines

China's top court issued a guideline on the environment on Thursday, aiming to improve the quality of related court cases and provide legal protection for the country's ecology.

At the same time, the Supreme People's Court announced the establishment of its tribunal to hear cases relating to the environment and resources. Zheng Xuelin was appointed chief judge of the tribunal.

The court said it set up the environment and resources tribunal because of more complicated environmental disputes and increasingly severe pollution problems.

Many local governments have established environmental courts or tribunals already, with their number reaching more than 130 nationwide since 2007.

The top court said its guideline and tribunal establishment will provide a standard for hearing environmental disputes across the country, and ensure victims of pollution receive compensation.