China's top court and the national judge association strongly called the public to further protect judges' safety and uphold judicial credibility on Saturday, after a grassroots judge was injured by a defaulter.

Zhou Long, the judge of a court in Shuyang county, Jiangsu province, was hit by a car on his way to work Friday afternoon, and then he was continually stabbed by the driver, according to a statement from the Supreme People's Court.

The seriously injured Zhou is recovering after being hospitalized, the statement said.

After a preliminary investigation, the county court declared that the driver named Hu Xiaogan is a defaulter, who declined to comply with his rulings and disturbed the court's order for his dissatisfaction with verdicts before the attack, the statement said.

The suspect has been arrested by local police and the case is still under investigation, it added.

The top court showed its shock and anger to the latest case on Friday and advocated on its official micro blog on Saturday to severely and strictly punish those who harm justice and judges.

It was not the first case that a judge was attacked by litigants or people involved in disputes.

On Jan 26, Fu Mingsheng, a retired judge from a court in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was stabbed to death in his home by the defendant in a divorce case Fu handled in 1994.

Last year, Ma Caiyun, a Beijing judge, was shot in the stomach and face at home by a litigant who was discontent with the property division in a divorce verdict Ma gave.

To better protect judges' safety, the top court issued a guideline on Feb 7, in which it said it will punish those who disturb judicial work or take revenge on legal officers.

"We've told judges across the country to increase self-protection as well as that for their family members," the statement said, calling courts at all levels to establish their own judge protection association in a timely manner.

It also asked every court to improve court facilities, taking judges' dignity and safety as priority.

"Protecting judges is to uphold justice. Anyone who disturbs, threatens and damages judges and justice should be severely penalized," it added.