Thirty years ago today, on December 4, 1995 (October 13, 1995 in the lunar calendar), Hong Kong courts used Chinese to hear cases for the first time. On December 4, 1995, the Hong Kong High Court tried a property dispute case in Chinese for the first time. Since neither party involved in the case knew English nor hired a lawyer, the evidence submitted to the court was in Chinese. After study, the High Court decided to conduct trials in Chinese, setting a precedent for Hong Kong courts to use Chinese to hear cases. For a long time, Hong Kong courts have only tried cases in English. Article 9 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China stipulates that in addition to using Chinese, the executive, legislative and judicial organs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may also use English, which is also the official language.