On 20 August 2023, China Justice Observer released the 2023 version of the List of China’s Cases on Recognition of Foreign Judgments. To date, we have collected 98 cases involving China and 25 foreign States and regions. (Note: Foreign divorce judgments are excluded from the Case List.)
The key features of the updated list are:
- The List comprises 25 concise reports for each jurisdiction, together with a chart of bilateral judicial assistance treaties which China has concluded with 39 States, of which 35 bilateral treaties include judgment enforcement clauses.
- A total of nine newly added cases involve two treaty jurisdictions - France (one case) and Vietnam (one case) - and seven non-treaty jurisdictions, namely, Australia(one case), Canada (one case), Germany (one case), New Zealand(one case), South Korea (one case), the UK (one case), and the US (one case).
- Please note that in In re DAR (2022) Jing 01 Po Shen No. 786, the Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court ruled, based on the principle of reciprocity, to recognize a German court’s bankruptcy ruling. This is the second case involving de jure reciprocity -a new liberal reciprocity test for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in China. The first of its kind was the Spar Shipping case reported in 2022, in which an English monetary judgment was recognized in China for the first time.
- Another noteworthy case is SD Biotechnologies Co. Ltd v. 99 Trade Co. Ltd (2019) Jing 04 Xie Wai Ren No.3, where the Beijing Fourth Intermediate People’s Court ruled to recognize and enforce a trademark judgment of the Korean Supreme Court. This case marks the first time that Chinese courts have recognized and enforced an intellectual property judgment.
- Other newly added cases, whether foreign judgments to be enforced in China or Chinese judgments to be enforced in foreign jurisdictions, provide a valuable comparative perspective on key issues in the eyes of courts from different jurisdictions, such as interim measures (China), limitation period (Australia), due process and public policy (Vietnam), finality (Canada), and the ground of systemic lack of due process (the US).
- Each case has been reviewed and more details, such as the grounds, the case numbers, and causes of action, have been added.
- Case analyses have been aggregated under the country tags since 2022, so it is now easier to track down relevant cases, together with their information and analyses, in each country/region report. For example, under the tag ‘US-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’, one can find relevant case analyses involving mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments between the US and China.
We would like to thank the following persons/institutions that shared thoughts and valuable information with us:
- Dr. Béligh Elbalti, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Law and Politics, Osaka University, Japan
- Dr. ZHANG Wenliang (张文亮), Associate Professor, School of Law, Renmin University of China
- Dr. SU Xiaoling(苏晓凌), Lawyer at Beijing DHH Law Firm
- Mr. WANG Chengjie (王成杰), Lawyer at Allbright Law Offices (Shanghai)
- Wonbanglaw (万邦法律）
- Ms. Renee M Wong, Attorney at Goldberger and Dubin PC (New York)
- Dr. WANG Yahan (王雅菡), Associate Professor, Henan University School of Law
- Mr. Angus Ni, Litigation attorney at AFN Law PLLC (Seattle)
- Asian Business Law Institute
- Ms. Dawei Gongsun, Partner at DGW Kramer LLP (New York)
As always, we endeavor to collect all Chinese court decisions involving the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments (“REFJ”), and foreign counterparts concerning the recognition and enforcement of Chinese judgments. The Case List is made available for our readers to build reasonable expectations on REFJ in China.
The Case List is continually updated with new reports. Case information, comments, and suggestions are most welcome. Please feel free to contact Ms. Meng YU via e-mail at meng.yu@chinajusticeobserver.com.
For an overview of the disposition of cases on REFJ, please see the three tables below.
For information about bilateral judicial assistance treaties that China and 39 States have concluded, please see table 2 below.
(For the List of China's Bilateral Treaties on Judicial Assistance in Civil and Commercial Matters (Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Included), please click here. Authoritative texts in Chinese and other languages are now available.）
For the detailed country(region) report about cases on REFJ, please see the following charts.
1. America (USA) – China
To date, there are 22 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and the United States of America. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘US-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
2. Australia - China
To date, there are 7 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and Australia. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Australia-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
3. Belarus- China
To date, there are 2 court decisions involving the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments (“REFJ”) between China and Belarus. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Belarus-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
4. British Virgin Islands (BVI) - China
To date, there is one court decision involving the REFJ between China and the British Virgin Islands (BVI). More specifically:
What is the prerequisite and basis for Chinese courts to review the BVI judgments? Reciprocity.
5. Canada - China
To date, there are 2 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and Canada. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Canada-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
6. Chad - China
To date, there is one court decision involving the REFJ between China and Chad. More specifically:
7. France - China
To date, there are 6 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and France. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘France-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
8. Germany - China
To date, there are 6 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and Germany. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Germany-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
9. Israel - China
To date, there are 2 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and Israel. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Israel-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
10. Italy - China
To date, there are 5 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and Italy. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Italy-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
11. Japan - China
To date, there are 6 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and Japan. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Japan-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
12. Kenya- China
To date, there is one court decision involving the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments (“REFJ”) between China and Kenya. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Kenya-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
13. Malaysia - China
To date, there is one court decision involving the REFJ between China and Malaysia. More specifically:
14. Myanmar- China
To date, there is one court decision involving the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments (“REFJ”) between China and Myanmar. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Myanmar-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
15. Netherlands - China
To date, there is one court decision involving the REFJ between China and the Netherlands. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Netherlands-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
16. New Zealand- China
To date, there are 3 court decisions involving the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments (“REFJ”) between China and New Zealand. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘New Zealand-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
17. Poland - China
To date, there are 2 court decisions involving the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments (“REFJ”) between China and Poland. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Poland-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
18. Russia - China
To date, there is one court decision involving the REFJ between China and Russia. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Russia-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
19. Singapore - China
To date, there are 6 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and Singapore. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Singapore-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
20. South Korea - China
To date, there are 11 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and South Korea. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘South Korea-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
21. Turkey - China
To date, there is one court decision involving the REFJ between China and Turkey. More specifically:
22. UAE - China
To date, there are 3 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and the UAE. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘UAE-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
23. UK - China
To date, there are 4 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and the UK. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘UK-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
24. Uzbekistan - China
To date, there are 2 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and Uzbekistan. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Uzbekistan-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
25. Vietnam - China
To date, there is one court decision involving the REFJ between China and Vietnam. More specifically:
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Vietnam-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
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If you would like to discuss with us about the post, or share your views and suggestions, please contact Ms. Meng Yu (meng.yu@chinajusticeobserver.com). If you would like to acquire the full text of these decisions, please also contact Ms. Meng Yu.
If you need legal services for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in China, please contact Mr. Guodong Du (guodong.du@chinajusticeobserver.com ). Du and his team of experienced attorneys will be able to assist you.
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Photo by Road Trip with Raj on Unsplash
Contributors: Guodong Du 杜国栋 , Meng Yu 余萌
