Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Jurisdiction of Foreign Civil and Commercial Cases

(Adopted at the 1872nd meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People’s Court on August 16, 2022, effective from January 1, 2023)

In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of both Chinese and foreign parties in accordance with the law, facilitate litigation, and further improve the quality and efficiency of foreign-related civil and commercial trials, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China and in combination with judicial practice, this regulation is formulated.

Article 1 The basic people’s courts shall have jurisdiction as courts of first instance over foreign-related civil and commercial cases, except as otherwise provided by laws and judicial interpretation.

Article 2: The Intermediate People’s Court shall have jurisdiction over the following first instance cases involving foreign civil and commercial matters:
（1） Disputed civil and commercial cases involving foreign elements with a large amount of subject matter. Intermediate people’s courts in the jurisdiction of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong, and Chongqing, with jurisdiction over foreign-related civil and commercial cases with an amount of litigation subject matter exceeding RMB 40 million (including this number); Intermediate People’s Courts under the jurisdiction of Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang, as well as various Theater Zones and General Military Courts of the People’s Liberation Army, and various Intermediate People’s Courts under the jurisdiction of the Production and Construction Corps Branch of the Higher People’s Court of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jurisdiction over foreign-related civil and commercial cases with an amount of more than 20 million yuan (including this amount).
（2） Foreign civil and commercial cases with complex circumstances or a large number of parties involved.
（3） Other foreign-related civil and commercial cases with significant impact in this jurisdiction. If laws and judicial interpretation provide otherwise for the jurisdiction of the intermediate people’s court over foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance, the relevant provisions shall prevail.

Article 3: The Higher People’s Court shall have jurisdiction over foreign civil and commercial cases with a litigation amount of over 5 billion yuan (including this amount) or other significant impacts in its jurisdiction.

Article 4: If the Higher People’s Court deems it necessary based on the actual situation of its jurisdiction, and with the approval of the Supreme People’s Court, it may designate one or more grassroots people’s courts and intermediate people’s courts to exercise cross regional centralized jurisdiction over the first instance foreign-related civil and commercial cases stipulated in Article 1 and Article 2 of these Provisions.
If cross regional centralized jurisdiction is implemented in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the higher people’s court shall promptly disclose the corresponding jurisdiction areas of the grassroots and intermediate people’s courts to the society.

Article 5 Foreign related civil and commercial cases shall be tried by a specialized trial or collegial panel.

Article 6: These Provisions shall not apply to cases involving foreign maritime and commercial disputes, foreign intellectual property disputes, foreign ecological environment damage compensation disputes, and foreign environmental civil public interest litigation cases.

Article 7: Civil and commercial cases involving the Hong Kong, Macao Special Administrative Regions, and Taiwan regions shall be governed by reference to these provisions.

Article 8: These regulations shall come into effect from January 1, 2023. The cases accepted after the implementation of these regulations shall be governed by these regulations.

Article 9 Where the judicial interpretation previously issued by the Court is inconsistent with these Provisions, these Provisions shall prevail.