China plans to set up an "international maritime judicial center" to help protect the country's sovereignty and rights at sea, its top judge said on Sunday. Giving a work report at the annual meeting of China's largely rubber-stamp parliament, chief justice Zhou Qiang said courts across China were working to implement the national strategy of building China into a "maritime power". "(We) must resolutely safeguard China's national sovereignty, maritime rights and other core interests," he said.