China's Chief Justice Zhou Qiang on Thursday said China has taken steps to equally protect the rights of its citizens and foreigners in China, with thousands of cases involving disputes with foreign nationals solved last year.

Zhou, president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), said Chinese courts at different levels in the past year processed 5,804 cases involving disputes with foreign companies, 12,000 cases related to maritime affairs and commerce, and 6,014 cases involving international law. 

In April 2014, the Shanghai maritime court released a Japanese ship seized at a port in Zhejiang Province after its owner, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), paid $2.85 million as compensation to a Chinese firm. The impounding was related to two freighters chartered from the Chinese ship owner by one of MOL's predecessors in 1936.

This was the first time a Japanese company asset had been confiscated as war-linked compensation.

The SPC in 2014 rejected an appeal filed by China-based Sino-Environment Technology Group (Fujian) Limited against its sole investor in Singapore in a management dispute. The court also invited foreign diplomats to the trial to increase transparency.

Law experts pointed out that China's judicial system has become more open, with an increasing number of judges citing international conventions and laws apart from Chinese law when handling a case.

"Judges have become more cautious when handling cases involving foreign nationals to ensure fairness in judgment," said Jiang Shibo, an international law expert at Shandong University.

Document exchanges between Chinese courts and international courts have increased from less than 10 cases a year to over 3,000 cases in 2013.

The Chinese courts have also handled another 13,000 cases related to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents.

In April 2014, two residents from the Chinese mainland received 240,000 yuan ($38,320) in compensation from a Taiwan resident in a domestic abuse case, signaling deepening cross-Straits cooperation in the legal sector.

Taiwan resident Sie Hsien-de strangled his mainland wife surnamed Fang to death in 2012. Fang's family later sought compensation from Sie.

Jiang suggested that government departments like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce should actively seek legal ties particularly with countries that have close economic exchanges with China.