In order to further standardize the filing and review work of cases accepted by the Beijing International Commercial Court, the Beijing International Commercial Court has issued this Q&A in accordance with the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China and relevant judicial interpretations of the Supreme People’s Court, in combination with case jurisdiction and trial practice.
Question 1: What is the jurisdiction of the Beijing International Commercial Court?
Answer: The Beijing International Commercial Court has jurisdiction in accordance with the law:
（1） The first instance of foreign-related, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan commercial cases with a litigation amount of less than 5 billion yuan that should be accepted by the Beijing Municipal Court, except for cases that should be accepted by the Beijing Financial Court;
（2） Judicial review cases related to foreign and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan arbitration that should be under the jurisdiction of the Beijing Municipal Court, including cases of applying for confirmation of the effectiveness of arbitration agreements, cases of applying for revocation of arbitration awards from arbitration institutions in mainland China, cases of applying for recognition and enforcement of arbitration awards in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan regions, and cases of applying for recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitration awards (excluding labor disputes and financial arbitration awards);
（3） Application for recognition and enforcement of civil judgments of foreign courts under the jurisdiction of Beijing Municipal Court; Application for recognition and enforcement of civil judgments of courts in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan region (excluding financial judicial assistance cases).
Question 2: How to determine the standards for foreign-related commercial cases?
Answer: In judicial practice, it is mainly judged whether a case is a foreign-related case based on three elements: the subject, object, and content of the legal relationship involved in the case. In general, if one of the following situations occurs, the people’s court may recognize it as a foreign-related civil case:
1. If one or both parties are foreigners, stateless persons, foreign enterprises or organizations;
2. If one or both parties have their habitual residence outside the territory of the People’s Republic of China;
3. The subject matter is outside the territory of the People’s Republic of China;
4. The legal facts that create, modify, or eliminate civil relations occur outside the territory of the People’s Republic of China;
5. Other circumstances that can be recognized as foreign-related civil cases.
The people’s court may refer to the special provisions on the application of foreign-related civil litigation procedures when handling civil litigation cases involving Hong Kong, Macao Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan.
After determining whether the case is a foreign-related case, it is also necessary to determine whether the case belongs to a commercial case. According to the trial practice of Beijing courts, the scope of commercial cases is the cases that are heard by the commercial trial court as stipulated in the Notice of the Beijing Higher People’s Court on Implementing the Regulations on Standardizing the Jurisdiction of Civil and Commercial Trial Courts (Trial). The more common cases are loan contract disputes, sales contract disputes, and company related disputes.
Question 3: If the defendant has a residence in China, how can we determine that the case is under the jurisdiction of the Beijing International Commercial Court?
Answer: When the defendant has a residence within the territory of our country, the principle of jurisdiction of the case is as follows:
(1) Priority of jurisdiction by agreement means that the parties to a contract or other property rights dispute may choose in writing to have jurisdiction over the people’s court located in the defendant’s domicile, the place of contract performance, the place of contract signing, the plaintiff’s domicile, the location of the subject matter, and other places that are actually related to the dispute, but shall not violate the provisions of hierarchical jurisdiction and exclusive jurisdiction; Foreign courts with actual connection to the dispute, such as the defendant’s domicile, the place of contract performance, the place of contract signing, the plaintiff’s domicile, the location of the subject matter, and the place of infringement, can also be chosen through a written agreement for jurisdiction;
(2) If there is no agreement on jurisdiction between the parties, a lawsuit filed due to a contract dispute shall be under the jurisdiction of the people’s court of the defendant’s domicile or the place of contract performance;
(3) Lawsuits arising from disputes over the establishment, confirmation of shareholder qualifications, distribution of profits, dissolution, etc. of the company shall be under the jurisdiction of the people’s court in the place where the company is located.
According to the above jurisdictional principles, if the jurisdictional connection point is located in Beijing, one can choose to file a lawsuit with the Beijing International Commercial Court.
Question 4: If the defendant does not have a residence within the territory of our country, how can the jurisdiction of the case be determined?
Answer: When the defendant has no domicile within the territory of our country, the principle of jurisdiction of the case is as follows:
(1) Priority of jurisdiction by agreement means that the parties to a contract or other property rights dispute may choose in writing to have jurisdiction over the people’s court located in the defendant’s domicile, the place of contract performance, the place of contract signing, the plaintiff’s domicile, the location of the subject matter, and other places that are actually related to the dispute, but shall not violate the provisions of hierarchical jurisdiction and exclusive jurisdiction; Foreign courts with actual connection to the dispute, such as the defendant’s domicile, the place of contract performance, the place of contract signing, the plaintiff’s domicile, the location of the subject matter, and the place of infringement, can also be chosen through a written agreement for jurisdiction;
(2) If there is no agreement jurisdiction, a lawsuit filed against a defendant who does not have a domicile in China due to contract disputes or other property rights disputes, if the contract is signed or performed in China, or the subject matter of the lawsuit is in China, or the defendant has property available for seizure in China, or the defendant has a representative office in China, it can be under the jurisdiction of the people’s court in the place where the contract is signed, the place where the contract is performed, the place where the subject matter of the lawsuit is located, the place where the property available for seizure is located, the place where the infringement is committed, or the place where the representative office is located;
(3) Lawsuits arising from disputes over the establishment, confirmation of shareholder qualifications, distribution of profits, dissolution, etc. of the company shall be under the jurisdiction of the people’s court in the place where the company is located.
According to the above jurisdictional principles, if the jurisdictional connection point is located in Beijing, one can choose to file a lawsuit with the Beijing International Commercial Court.
Question 5: What are the types of cases under the jurisdiction of foreign courts that cannot be negotiated?
Answer: According to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law, cases under the exclusive jurisdiction of Chinese courts cannot be placed under the jurisdiction of foreign courts. The types of cases include real estate disputes, disputes arising from port operations, inheritance disputes, disputes arising from the performance of Sino foreign joint venture contracts, Sino foreign cooperative enterprise contracts, and Sino foreign cooperative exploration and development contracts in China. The above types of cases cannot be placed under the jurisdiction of foreign courts through agreement, but arbitration can be agreed upon.
Question 6: What are the conditions for the parties to apply to the Beijing International Commercial Court for confirmation of the validity of an arbitration agreement in a case?
Answer: Cases that apply for confirmation of the effectiveness of an arbitration agreement shall be under the jurisdiction of the intermediate people’s court or a specialized people’s court in the place where the arbitration institution is located, the place where the arbitration agreement is signed, the applicant’s domicile, or the respondent’s domicile as stipulated in the arbitration agreement.
If the above-mentioned location is located in Beijing and the case has foreign-related factors, the applicant can apply to the Beijing International Commercial Court.
Question 7: What are the conditions for the parties to apply to the Beijing International Commercial Court for the revocation of an arbitration award?
Answer: The parties may apply to the intermediate people’s court where the arbitration commission is located to revoke the award. Based on current trial practice, if a party applies for revocation of an arbitration award made by the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission and the Beijing Arbitration Commission with foreign-related factors (excluding financial cases), they may apply to the Beijing International Commercial Court.
Question 8: What are the conditions for parties to apply to the Beijing International Commercial Court for recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitration awards or arbitration awards in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan?
Answer: The parties applying for recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitration awards or arbitration awards in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan can apply to the intermediate people’s court in the place where the defendant’s domicile or property is located. Therefore, if the defendant’s domicile or property is located in Beijing, the applicant can apply to the Beijing International Commercial Court.
Question 9: What are the conditions for parties to apply to the Beijing International Commercial Court for recognition and enforcement of effective judgments and rulings of foreign courts?
Answer: Parties applying for recognition and enforcement of effective civil judgments and rulings made by foreign courts may apply to the intermediate people’s court in the place of residence, habitual residence, or property location of the respondent. Therefore, if the above-mentioned jurisdictional connection point is located in Beijing, the applicant can apply to the Beijing International Commercial Court.
Question 10: What are the conditions for parties to apply to the Beijing International Commercial Court for recognition and enforcement of effective judgments and rulings in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan?
Answer: The parties applying for recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial judgments in accordance with the provisions of the “Arrangement of the Supreme People’s Court on Mutual Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Cases under the Jurisdiction of Parties in Mainland China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Courts” and “Arrangement of the Supreme People’s Court on Mutual Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Family Cases between Mainland China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Courts” shall submit to the intermediate people’s court in the place of residence, habitual residence or property location of the respondent.
The parties applying for recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial judgments that comply with the provisions of the “Arrangement of the Supreme People’s Court on Mutual Recognition and Enforcement of Civil and Commercial Judgments between the Mainland and the Macao Special Administrative Region” may apply to the intermediate people’s court in the place of residence, habitual residence or property location of the respondent;
The parties applying for recognition and enforcement of civil judgments that comply with the provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on the Recognition and Enforcement of Civil Judgments of Courts in Taiwan may apply to the intermediate people’s court or specialized people’s court of the applicant’s domicile, habitual residence, or the respondent’s domicile, habitual residence, or property location.
Therefore, if the above-mentioned jurisdictional connection point is located in Beijing, the applicant can apply to the Beijing International Commercial Court.
