HONG KONG SAR, CHINA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ralph Sellar, Jason Cheng, Shirley Choi and Grace Jia, Slaughter and May
Introduction and Executive Summary In the past 12 months, Hong Kong has continued to develop as Asia’s leading dispute resolution hub, with recent changes placing particular emphasis on efficiency in resolving cross-border disputes, party autonomy and international alignment. In this update, we discuss the following developments: • The new Arrangement on Mutual Service of Judi- cial Documents between Hong Kong and Main- land China represents a meaningful response to long‑standing challenges in cross‑border litigation and is expected to significantly improve the practi- cal effectiveness of the service of proceedings. This development, together with the new recipro- cal enforcement regime between Hong Kong and Mainland China for civil and commercial judgments effective from 29 January 2024, provide Hong Kong with a significant advantage over other juris- dictions in relation to disputes involving parties or assets in Mainland China. • The Hong Kong courts’ approach to deciding winding-up petitions in relation to debt instruments containing arbitration clauses continues to come under scrutiny since the Court of Appeal’s 2024 decision in • Re Simplicity and the perceived divergence from the equivalent position under English law in the Privy Council case of • Sian Participation . • Hong Kong’s position as a centre for international mediation has also been strengthened by the establishment of the International Organization for Mediation (the “IOMed”), the first intergovern- mental organisation dedicated to mediation and headquartered in the city. • The recent transition from absolute to restric- tive state immunity further aligns Hong Kong with major international dispute resolution jurisdictions, particularly in relation to disputes arising from com- mercial activities of foreign states. From the perspective of commercial users of Hong Kong’s dispute resolution services, the new reciprocal enforcement regime and streamlined service arrange- ments with Mainland China reduce procedural fric- tion and enhance the attractiveness of Hong Kong jurisdiction clauses in cross-border contracts. With
the shift to restrictive state immunity, Hong Kong has now become another friendly jurisdiction for parties to enforce contractual and commercial rights against foreign states. This is expected to bring Hong Kong further in line with prevailing international practice and to enhance its status as one of the major internation- al dispute resolution hubs. The establishment of the IOMed offers commercial parties an additional avenue for resolving disputes through mediation supported by procedural protections under the Convention. Notwithstanding the continued debate about the right approach to handling winding up petitions (which, from a commercial perspective, is a somewhat eso- teric point of law), these developments demonstrate Hong Kong’s continued status and development as a leading dispute resolution hub as well as the close col- laboration between Mainland China and Hong Kong to facilitate Hong Kong’s continued development in this role. New Arrangement on Mutual Service of Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Proceedings Between Hong Kong and Mainland China Hong Kong serves as an international finance and trading gateway to China and many civil and com- mercial cases in the Hong Kong courts involve a party based in Mainland China. Litigants in Hong Kong and Mainland China have long faced procedural obstacles in effecting service of documents in cross-border civil and commercial proceedings. Traditionally, once leave to serve outside the jurisdic- tion has been granted, service generally had to be effected through court-to-court channels between the High Court of the HKSAR and the relevant Higher People’s Court of Mainland China. A new Arrangement on Mutual Service of Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters (the “New Arrangement”) was signed on 20 April 2026, which materially expands the methods by which judicial documents may be served between Hong Kong and the Mainland. Subject to local legislative implementa- tion in Hong Kong, the New Arrangement is expected to replace the existing Arrangement for Mutual Ser- vice of Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Proceedings between the Mainland and Hong Kong
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