CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Yaxing Zhang, Bing San, Yi Cao and Jiahui Zhu, Han Kun Law Offices
• Regulations on the Recognition and Enforcement of Civil Judgments Rendered by courts in the Tai - wan Region. Parties may apply to courts in Mainland China for rec - ognition and enforcement of relevant judgments from these jurisdictions under the above arrangements and regulations. The procedures for applying to Chinese Mainland courts for recognition and enforcement of judgments rendered by courts in the Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and the Taiwan region are substantially similar to those for recognising and enforcing foreign judgments in Mainland China. This section focuses exclusively on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. 3.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Foreign Legal Instruments Eligible for Recognition and Enforcement These include: • legally effective judgments, rulings, decisions or orders issued by foreign courts concerning sub - stantive civil and commercial disputes; and • civil damage compensation awards indepen - dently rendered by foreign courts in criminal cases (excluding penal content). Foreign Legal Instruments Ineligible for Recognition and Enforcement These include procedural judicial documents such as preservative orders (eg, property seizures, injunc - tions), evidence-taking orders, etc. 3.3 Categories of Foreign Judgments Not Enforced Where a party applies to a court in Mainland China for recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment or ruling, the court shall dismiss the application under any of the following circumstances. Absence of Treaty or Reciprocal Relationship The country where the foreign court is located has neither concluded nor jointly acceded to any inter - national treaty with the PRC, nor has established a reciprocal relationship (except for applications recog -
nising legally effective divorce judgments rendered by foreign courts). Unverifiable Authenticity The court, after examination, cannot verify the authen -
ticity of the foreign judgment or ruling. Non-Effectiveness or Lack of Finality
The foreign judgment or ruling has not yet become legally effective or lacks finality under the laws of that country (eg, where an appeal has been filed and remains pending). Where the court has dismissed an application, the applicant may re-file the application. If the re-filed application meets the admissibility criteria, the court shall accept it according to law. 3.4 Process of Enforcing Foreign Judgments When applying to a court in Mainland China for rec - ognition and enforcement of a foreign court judgment, the applicant shall follow these steps below: Step One: Preparation of Case Filing Documents For recognition and enforcement of a foreign judg - ment, the applicant shall prepare the following docu - ments: • application letter – containing parties’ information, name of the foreign court, case number, claims and legal grounds, respondent’s asset status/location, and execution status of the judgment abroad; • validity documentation – original or notarised/certi - fied copy of the foreign judgment; • proof of judgment’s effectiveness (for default judg - ments – evidence of proper service on the absent party); • formal documents – all foreign-language docu - ments must include Chinese translations bearing official seals of professional translation agencies, and documents issued overseas require notarisa - tion and authentication; and • property preservation (optional) – may be filed concurrently but requires sufficient security and specific asset clues.
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