For a long time, in the same lawsuit case, victims in China often received differing amounts in compensation due to factors such as urban-rural classification or regional differences. But this phenomenon of "different prices paid for victims suffering same fate" is expected to come to an end, China Media Group (CMG) reported on Friday, citing a draft published by the Supreme People's Court (SPC) of China.

In early December, the SPC published a draft judicial explanation on its official website to solicit public opinions. According to the draft, the compensation standards for death or disabilities in civil lawsuits will be the same for victims with an urban or rural hukou - the Chinese residential registration system.

The death compensation standards were first introduced by the SPC in 2003, said the draft. According to the standards that "for urban residents was calculated based on the average personal disposable income of urban residents, while that for rural residents was calculated on the average personal income of all residents."

Clearly, the former is higher than the latter. As a result, rural residents could only receive lower compensation than their urban counterparts, the draft noted.

It also gave an example happened in 2005, in which three children were killed in a traffic accident. "The families of two of the children who lived in an urban area received 200,000 yuan ($31,360) each, while the family of the other child, who resided in a rural area and was registered as a rural resident, received only 90,000 yuan."

The 2003 standards triggered a heated debate due to the difference. "But it simply reflected the urban-rural gap at that time," said the draft.

Shi Jiayou, a professor of at the Renmin University of China Law School told CMG that the revision of the judicial explanation will further reflect the fairness and justice of the law. This is also a major judicial reform in the field of personal injury compensation , the professor added.

"The revised standard will no longer be based on residential registration, and the standard of compensation for personal damage will be the same, that is, the same life will be at the same price," Yue Shenshan, a legal expert, said in an interview with CMG.

On the other hand, the use of higher standards to compensate for personal injury cases reflects the country's goal of putting people at the center, from the legislative to the justice level, and also it reflects the purpose of equal legal protection, Yue added.

"Over the past 18 years, efforts have been made to improve standards. In 2006, the standards were updated so that those with a rural hukou who lived and worked in cities could get compensation according to the urban standards. In 2010, it was made clear that the same compensation standard should apply to all victims that killed in the same accident," said the draft.

The SPC's move manifests the principle that "everybody is equal before the law," it concluded.