CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Yaxing Zhang, Bing San, Yi Cao and Jiahui Zhu, Han Kun Law Offices
statutory provisions. This includes, but is not limited to: • sale of goods, property leasing, project contract - ing, processing work, technology transfer; • equity/joint ventures, co-operative operations, natural resources exploration; • insurance, credit, labour services, agency, consult - ing services; • passenger/cargo transportation by sea, civil avia - tion, rail, or road; and • product liability, environmental pollution, maritime accidents and ownership disputes. Categories of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Arbitral Awards Not Enforceable China recognises and enforces arbitral awards ren - dered in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan concerning civil and commercial disputes, excluding disputes between foreign investors and host state government entities, and non-commercial disputes as defined by laws of Mainland China. 4.4 Process of Enforcing Arbitral Awards Procedures for Applying for Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign As Well As Arbitral Awards in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Arbitral Awards Phase 1: Application for recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards The procedures are largely unified for foreign and Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan awards. • The applicant prepares a complete set of recogni - tion and enforcement documents, including but not limited to notarised/authenticated copies of the arbitral award, document translation, asset tracing reports and an application. • The applicant prepares property preservation documents (if applying concurrently for property preservation). (a) The applicant submits the application docu - ments to the court, which accepts the applica - tion and serves the respondent with a copy, allowing the respondent to file a defence. (b) The respondent may raise jurisdictional objec - tions (if any). If objections are raised, the court must first adjudicate such objections and re - sume the recognition/enforcement proceedings
only after issuing a final ruling thereon. (c) The court hears this case of recognition and enforcement. (d) The court issues a ruling on whether to recog - nise and enforce the arbitral award. Phase 2: Enforcement of arbitral awards • Upon obtaining a recognition ruling, the applicant files for enforcement. The court accepts the appli - cation and dockets enforcement of the case. • The court serves an Enforcement Notice and Property Reporting Order to the judgment debtor, demanding compliance with the award and disclo - sure of assets. • The court initiates online asset investigations and imposes control measures (eg, seizure, freezing) on the debtor’s assets. • The court arranges appraisal and auction of the debtor’s assets (if applicable). After failed auction(s), the court will solicit the applicant’s opin - ion on debt settlement to accept assets in kind. • The court may impose exit bans, high-consump - tion restrictions, and credit discrediting measures against the debtor upon the applicant’s requests. • Where assets are successfully disposed, the court distributes proceeds to the applicant. If no enforce - able assets are found or disposed through an exhaustive assets investigation, the case shall be concluded via termination of enforcement or sus - pense of the current enforcement proceedings. Procedures for Applying for Enforcement of Domestic Arbitral Awards The procedures are the same as those for the enforce - ment of arbitral awards mentioned above. 4.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Arbitral Awards Recognition and Enforcement Fees of Foreign Arbitral Awards As Well As Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan Arbitral Awards The parties seeking recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards as well as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan arbitral awards shall bear the following costs: • notarisation and authentication of foreign docu - ments;
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