Chinese courts vow to improve handling of overseas affairs

Chinese courts have vowed to improve the ability of handling cases involving overseas affairs and maritime disputes, aiming to help the country serve high-level opening-up and pursue its modernization path by rule of law.

Upholding the principle of equal protection to every market entity, courts at all levels concluded more than 492,000 disputes regarding overseas litigants, along with over 170,000 maritime lawsuits, from the beginning of 2013 to the end of June this year.

"The huge numbers show that our country's door is opening wider and the judicial demand is becoming bigger, also meaning that the principle of equal protection in the case handling has been widely recognized by domestic and foreign litigants," the Supreme People's Court, China's top court, said in a statement on Tuesday.

French chef Jerome Tauvron recently expressed his gratitude to the Xuhui District People's Court in Shanghai after it helped him solve a dispute with his work partners through mediation.

In 2017, the chef opened a restaurant with some others in the city's Wukang street, but after the dissolution of the partnership, they had a disagreement over the return of items, which included a ceramic souvenir provided by Tauvron's godfather.

"For me, this souvenir is a priceless treasure that holds my emotions and memories," the French said, adding that the court's mediation not only allowed him to get the item back, but also helped him settle the conflicts with the other partners at one time.

The case was an epitome of the equal protection of the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors, the top court noted, emphasizing that it reflected the judicial effort in promoting the building of business environment.

While focusing on the case handling, the top court said that it also issued 35 judicial interpretations and 10 guidelines, such as those on foreign investment and auction of ships, in the past 10 years, so as to unify the adjudication standards.

In addition, the top court added that it has always stressed the importance of abiding by international rules and conventions, requiring judges to increase exchanges with foreign countries and accurately apply extraterritorial laws.

Over the past decade, Chinese courts have concluded more than 7,000 cases in which litigants applied for recognizing and enforcing civil or commercial rulings made by foreign courts, while verdicts announced by Chinese courts have also been increasingly supported and implemented by foreign countries, the top court said.

So far, a total of 12 nations, including the United States, Australia, Germany and Singapore, have recognized and enforced the civil or commercial rulings of Chinese courts, it added.