China Justice Observer

中司观察

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Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in China

Can I sue Chinese companies in a district court in California, the U.S., or in Paris, France, and then enforce a judgment in China from those courts?

Most likely, you don’t want to have to go so far away as to sue a Chinese company. You may just want to take your case in the court on your doorstep because you are more familiar with your home state.

However, you are also aware that the vast majority or all of the assets of the Chinese company are located in China. As a result, even if you have won the lawsuit at home, you still need to have your judgment enforced in China.

This concerns the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in China.

China has adopted a more friendly attitude towards the enforcement of foreign judgments in China since 2015, with a handful of successful cases concerning recognition of judgments of several countries, including the United States, Singapore and South Korea.

On this basis, China’s Supreme People’s Court(SPC) has started applying new rules in 2022 that will make foreign judgments as likely to be recognized and enforced in China as they are in common-law countries or civil-law countries like Germany.

To date, foreign judgments rendered from the following jurisdictions can or are very likely to be recognized and enforced in China.

i. France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Vietnam, the UAE, Poland, Mongolia, Romania, Belarus, Ukraine, Cuba, Egypt, Bulgaria, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Morocco, Tunisia, Laos, Lithuania, North Korea, Kuwait, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Algeria, Bosnia, and Herzegovina: these countries have concluded bilateral treaties with China.  

ii. The US, the UK, Germany, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand: judgments rendered in these countries have already been recognized in China based on reciprocity. 

iii. Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the British Virgin Islands, and New Zealand: these countries and regions have recognized Chinese judgments and are waiting for China to confirm the reciprocity in future cases.

Contributors of China Justice Observer (CJO)（Guodong Du, Meng Yu, Yahan Wang, Béligh Elbalti, etc.）maintain their focus on this field, and endeavor to share updates on the latest developments with the international community. In addition, Guodong Du and Meng Yu lead a team of attorneys from multiple Chinese law firms, providing legal services in recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.

For Foreign Judgments Collection Service and more resources, please click here.

For 2022 Guide to Enforce Foreign Judgments in China, please click here. For more countries' guides, please click here.

For the time and expenses in recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in China, please click here.

For the List of China’s cases on recognition of foreign judgments, please click here.

For the List of China's Bilateral Treaties on Judicial Assistance in Civil and Commercial Matters (Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Included), please click here.

First Thai Monetary Judgment Enforced in China, Highlighting Presumptive Reciprocity in China-ASEAN Region

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 Insights Meng Yu 余萌

In 2024, a local Chinese court in Nanning, Guangxi, ruled to recognize and enforce a Thai monetary judgment. Apart from being the first case of enforcing Thai monetary judgments in China, it is also the first publicly reported case confirming a reciprocal relationship based on “presumptive reciprocity” (Guangxi Nanning China Travel Service Co., Ltd. v. Orient Thai Airlines Co., Ltd. (2023) Gui 71 Xie Wai Ren No. 1).

Thus Spoke Chinese Judges on Foreign Judgments Recognition and Enforcement: Insights from Chinese Supreme Court Justices on 2023 Civil Procedure Law Amendment (4)

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 Insights Meng Yu 余萌

The 2023 Civil Procedure Law introduces systematic regulations to enhance the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, promoting transparency, standardization, and procedural justice, while adopting a hybrid approach for determining indirect jurisdiction and introducing a reconsideration procedure as a legal remedy.