Eight businessmen from Taiwan were appointed by the people's congresses in Zhangzhou, a coastal city in east China's Fujian Province, as people's assessors in Taiwan-related cases on Monday.

They are the first group of Taiwan compatriots to serve as assessors in court cases to be handled in the mainland.

People's assessors enjoy equal rights as judges except for serving as the presiding judge. After a trial is completed, both the assessors and the judge decide on a verdict.

Early Monday, the standing committees of the people's congresses in Xiangcheng, Longhai and Zhangpu, all administered by Zhangzhou City, made the appointments.

The appointees had long been investing in Zhangzhou and were committed to safeguarding the legitimate rights of Taiwan compatriots, said Lin Yihua, chief of the Intermediate People's Court of Zhangzhou City.

"The chosen Taiwan businessmen, who are familiar with policies and regulations of Taiwan and the mainland as well, will complement professional mainland judges in fairly handling court disputes involving Taiwan compatriots," said Lin.

To become a people's assessor, one should be at least 23 years old and college-educated, without criminal records.

The assessors have a term of five years, during which they will be randomly picked to participate in specific cases.

Zhangzhou is home to more than 2,400 Taiwan-funded businesses specialized in sectors such as agriculture, food processing and sports items.

Court disputes involving Taiwan people have been on the rise in Fujian over the past few years.

Statistics from the Fujian Higher People's Court showed the number of civil and commercial court cases involving Taiwan compatriots in Fujian from 2006 to 2008 accounted for 49.26 percent of the total caseload of Taiwan related cases in the mainland.

The people's assessor system can be traced back to the 1930s and has been adjusted on many occasions, the latest being May 2005.

Since the first investment from Taiwan was made in Zhangzhou in 1981, 5.5 billion U.S. dollars has been pumped into the city.

Over 40 percent of Taiwan's population are of Fujian descent.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2009)