China's top court on Wednesday officially launched its first circuit court on Wednesday, a key step in the government's efforts towards judicial reform and a reduction in regional authorities' interference in matters of justice.

According to a judicial interpretation issued by the Supreme People's Court (SPC) the circuit court in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province will handle "major," "complicated" and "influential" administrative, civil and commercial cases, which occurred or are related to litigants in Guangdong and Hainan provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The court will also be responsible for criminal appeals, the interpretation - which will become effective on February 1 - noted.

Civil and commercial cases related to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan will also be dealt by the circuit court, which aims to make having trials heard by the country's top judicial authority more convenient, SPC spokesperson Sun Jungong told a media briefing on Wednesday.

The review of cases in which the death penalty has been handed down, State compensation claims, intellectual property cases and commercial cases involving foreign interests will still be handled by the SPC in Beijing rather than by circuit courts.

Thirteen judges and officials have been appointed by the SPC to the Shenzhen court. Judges in circuit courts will be rotated to different posts every two years to prevent them from colluding with local authorities, Sun said.

"The circuit court will be a platform for pilot projects and judicial reform policies," said Kong Xiangjun, vice-head of the Shenzhen circuit court.

The circuit court in Shenzhen will start to hear cases from February 2. The second SPC circuit court will soon be launched in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, and will handle cases that occurred in or are related to Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces.

"The first circuit court was set up in Shenzhen because Guangdong is a fast-developing region and close to Hong Kong and Macau as well as having to deal with various types of cases," Sun said.

He added that the amount of legal disputes in Northeast China is "relatively high" and the circuit court's goal will be to promote the prosperity of the heavily industrialized region.

"More circuit courts may be launched in the future. The courts' jurisdiction and kinds of cases they can hear may also be adjusted," Sun said.

Setting up circuit courts was planned at the Fourth Plenum of 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in October.