NANJING -- A court in Suzhou, eastern China's Jiangsu Province, has heard a case online with litigants located in three countries amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The case on March 6 was about the dispute of the ownership of a house in Suzhou. Out of the 11 participants that attended the hearing, only the judge and the clerk showed up at the city's Huqiu District People's Court.

An online trial system connected the related parties, including two in the United States and Canada who were visiting their relatives and stranded by the epidemic, Gong Chunhua, a senior judge of the court, said on Monday.

"We instructed the participants to upload, install and login the system, taken into consideration the time differences of the three countries," Gong told Xinhua.

The hearing lasted over two and a half hours, and the court would announce the judgment at a later date.

Considering the virus continues to spread globally, the court has explored online hearing to avoid mass gathering after permitted by all the litigants.

According to Gong, the court will further promote the case filing, trial and delivery online, so as to provide faster and more efficient lawsuit services amid the epidemic.