On 21 August 2022, China Justice Observer released the 2022 version of the List of China’s Cases on Recognition of Foreign Judgments. To date, we have collected 89 cases involving China and 24 foreign States and regions. (Note: Foreign divorce judgments are excluded in the Case List.)
The key features of the updated list are:
- The List comprises 24 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 17 newly added cases involve eight jurisdictions, namely, the US (six cases), South Korea (three cases), Singapore (two cases), Australia (two cases), New Zealand (one case), Italy (one case), and Germany (one case), and the UK (one case). Please note that in the German case, the Saarbrücken Regional Court of Germany refused to recognize and enforce a Chinese judgment on the ground of lack of reciprocity, despite the fact that, as early as 2013, China confirmed that there was reciprocity between the two countries. Please also note that in the UK case, the Shanghai Maritime Court of China ruled to recognize and enforce an English judgment, marking the first time that an English monetary judgment has been enforced in China based on reciprocity.
- As a landmark judicial policy issued by China’s Supreme People’s Court, the 2021 Conference Summary provides a detailed guideline for Chinese courts to review foreign judgment-related applications. It significantly lowers the threshold by liberalizing the reciprocity test, while providing a much clearer standard for Chinese judges to examine applications for recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. The aforementioned UK case is a good example, because one key to ensuring the enforcement of English judgments is the reciprocal relationship between China and England (or the UK, if in a wider context), which, under the de jure reciprocity test (one of the new three tests), was confirmed in this case. Another interesting example would be a series of cases where a Chinese court in Guangzhou recognized and enforced the compensatory damages awarded in three U.S. EB-5 Visa fraud judgments, but rejected the punitive damages awarded therein, echoing the same rule laid down in the 2021 Conference Summary.
- Each case has been reviewed, and more details, such as the case numbers, and causes of action are added. Please note that we updated the information for existing cases involving the UAE and Italy.
- Case analyses have been aggregated under the country tags, 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 the 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
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 21 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and the United States of America.
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘US-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
2. Australia - China
To date, there are 6 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and Australia.
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.
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).
For the case info, please see the list above.
5. Canada - China
To date, there is one court decision involving the REFJ between China and Canada.
For the case info, please see the list above.
6. Chad - China
To date, there is one court decision involving the REFJ between China and Chad.
For the case info, please see the list above.
7. France - China
To date, there are 5 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and France.
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘France-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
8. Germany - China
To date, there are 5 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and Germany.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
For the case info, please see the list above.
14. Myanmar- China
To date, there is one court decision involving the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments (“REFJ”) between China and Myanmar.
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.
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Netherlands-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
16. New Zealand- China
To date, there are 2 court decisions involving the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments (“REFJ”) between China and New Zealand.
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.
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.
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.
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Singapore-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
20. South Korea - China
To date, there are 10 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and South Korea.
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.
For the case info, please see the list above.
22. UAE - China
To date, there are three court decisions involving the REFJ between China and the UAE.
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘UAE-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
23. UK - China
To date, there are 3 court decisions involving the REFJ between China and the UK.
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘UK-China Judgments Recognition and Enforcement’.
24. Uzbekistan - China
To date, there are two court decisions involving the REFJ between China and Uzbekistan.
For more information, see case analyses under the tag ‘Uzbekistan-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 gabriel xu on Unsplash
Contributors: Guodong Du 杜国栋 , Meng Yu 余萌
