The Chinese mainland's first tribunal to deal exclusively with Taiwanese-involved cases was unveiled on Thursday, a move adopted by the local judiciary authority to help Taiwanese people.

The tribunal, affiliated to the Intermediate People's Court of Zhangzhou in eastern Fujian Province, will accept cases with at least one party involved being Taiwanese, or a Taiwanese-funded corporation or enterprise, according to Lin Yihua, president of the intermediate people's court.

Zhang Wanming, an official with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said at the inauguration ceremony that its establishment would have a "positive" influence on safeguarding the legitimate interests of Taiwanese businessman and properly resolving disputes involving Taiwanese.

A panel of "backbone judges" who spoke the Minnan dialect (a family of dialects spoken in southern Fujian and by many Taiwanese) and were familiar with Taiwan and local customs and traditions would preside over the tribunal, Lin said, adding they all had master degrees.

"It is also an important mission of the tribunal to promote judiciary cooperation across the Taiwan Straits." he said.

Many Taiwanese can trace their ancestry to Zhangzhou, which is now home to more than 2,400 Taiwan enterprises.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2009)