Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court of PRC on Several Issues Concerning the Jurisdiction of Foreign related Civil and Commercial Cases

(Adopted at the 1872nd Session of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on August 16, 2022, and effective as of January 1, 2023, FSH [2022] No. 18)

In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese and foreign parties in accordance with the law, facilitate the litigants' litigation, and further improve the quality and efficiency of foreign-related civil and commercial trials, these Provisions are formulated in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China and in combination with trial practice.

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

Article 2 The intermediate people's courts shall have jurisdiction as courts of first instance over the following foreign-related civil and commercial cases:

（1） Foreign related civil and commercial cases with a large amount of dispute subject matter.

The intermediate people's courts under the jurisdiction of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong and Chongqing have jurisdiction over foreign-related civil and commercial cases with the subject matter of litigation of more than 40 million yuan (inclusive);

The intermediate people's courts in Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang, the military courts in various war zones and directly under the PLA, and the intermediate people's courts under the production and construction corps branch of the Higher People's Court of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, It has jurisdiction over foreign-related civil and commercial cases with an amount of more than 20 million yuan (inclusive).

（2） Foreign related civil and commercial cases with complex cases or a large number of parties.

（3） Other foreign-related civil and commercial cases that have significant influence in their respective jurisdictions.

If laws and judicial interpretations 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-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the amount of the subject matter of litigation of more than 5 billion yuan (inclusive) or other cases that have significant influence in its jurisdiction.

Article 4 The Higher People's Court may designate one or more basic people's courts and intermediate people's courts to exercise cross regional centralized jurisdiction over foreign-related civil and commercial cases of the first instance as stipulated in Article 1 and Article 2 of these Provisions respectively, if it deems it necessary to do so according to the actual conditions of its jurisdiction and upon approval by the Supreme People's Court.

If cross regional centralized jurisdiction is implemented according to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Higher People's Court shall promptly publicize the corresponding jurisdiction of the basic people's court and the intermediate people's court to the public.

Article 5 Foreign related civil and commercial cases shall be heard by a special tribunal or collegial panel.

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

Article 7 These Provisions shall apply mutatis mutandis to civil and commercial cases involving Hong Kong, the Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan.

Article 8 These Provisions shall come into force as of January 1, 2023. These Provisions shall apply to cases accepted after the implementation of these Provisions.

Article 9 Where the judicial interpretations previously issued by the Court are inconsistent with these Provisions, these Provisions shall prevail