SHANGHAI - A special court to handle bankruptcy cases was set up in Shanghai on Friday, according to local authorities.

The newly established Shanghai court will handle company bankruptcies, compulsory liquidation cases and cross-border bankruptcy cases.

Shenzhen set up a bankruptcy court, the first of its kind in the country, on Jan 14. Beijing set up the country's second on Wednesday.

Chinese courts received 9,542 new cases concerning corporate bankruptcy in 2017, an increase of 68.4 percent compared with the previous year, according to the Supreme People's Court.

During the same period, 6,257 corporate bankruptcy cases were settled by the courts, up 73.7 percent year-on-year.