BEIJING, Jun.2 (China Daily) -- Courts from Beijing, Tianjin Municipality and Hebei Province held their first joint conference in Beijing on May 31.

The meeting was initiated by the Supreme People's Court (SPC) of China.

Zhou Qiang, China's chief justice and president of the SPC, addressed the meeting and called for better performance by the coordinated judicial mechanism in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Zhou said that intellectual property cases in the region should be dealt with mainly in Beijing. He indicated that Tianjin should play a more positive role in foreign-related maritime and commercial cases, while Hebei should do so in environmental cases.

Zhou also said that a "Smart Court" should be built to promote collaboration - especially in information exchange, resources sharing and business - among the courts in the three places.

The SPC released guidance in February promoting the establishment of coordinated judicial practices that go beyond the limits of the administrative regions.