CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Fubin Xiang, Xinyi Zhang, Mengmeng Wei and Lanmengyuan Zhang, W&H Law Firm
2.5 AI-Related Dispute Resolution and Jurisdiction Jurisdiction Issue in AI-Related Disputes For AI-related disputes, the difficulty lies in locating and categorising the relevant conduct. A model may be trained in one jurisdiction on data drawn from sev- eral jurisdictions, while it is hosted in another jurisdic- tion and deployed to users in a third jurisdiction. Under the Civil Procedure Law, jurisdiction over insurance disputes generally lies with the court of the defendant’s domicile or the place where the insured subject matter is located. If the place where the insur- ance contract is signed or performed, or the location of the insured subject matter, is in China and satis- fies the statutory jurisdictional requirements, Chinese courts may have jurisdiction. That said, where AI liabil- ity spans multiple jurisdictions, the outcome may dif- fer in the presence of a valid jurisdiction agreement or exclusive jurisdiction provisions. In such cases, Chinese courts may decline to accept the case or will need to determine jurisdiction on a case-by-case basis. Choice-of-Law Issue in AI-Related Disputes Even if the parties agree that foreign laws shall apply, China’s mandatory rules (such as the Personal Infor- mation Protection Law, the Data Security Law and other regulations regarding information security) shall still apply as long as such AI or data processing activi- ties involve Chinese users or Chinese data. Foreign legal provisions cannot override or eliminate the appli- cability of Chinese regulatory requirements. 3. Arbitration in Insurance Disputes 3.1 Recognition of Arbitration Clauses Courts will generally enforce arbitration provisions in insurance and reinsurance contracts, provided the arbitration agreement is valid. Under the revised Arbitration Law, which took effect on 1 March 2026, an arbitration agreement is invalid where the subject matter is not arbitrable, where it was concluded by a person without capacity or with limited capacity, or where one party coerced the other into concluding it. Where the arbitration matters or the institution are unspecified or unclear, the parties may cure the defect
by supplementary agreement, failing which the agree- ment will be rendered invalid. 3.2 Enforcement of Arbitral Awards A party may apply to the Intermediate People’s Court at the respondent’s domicile or the location of its property to enforce a domestic arbitral award. Courts usually do not review the substantive correctness of an arbitration award. Under the current Arbitration Law and Civil Procedure Law, a respondent may also resist enforcement based on: • demonstration of the absence of a valid arbitration agreement; • the award exceeding the scope of the arbitration; • procedural irregularities; • forged evidence; • concealment of key evidence by the other party; • arbitrator misconduct; or • a violation of public interests. For arbitral awards issued in foreign jurisdictions, China acceded to the 1958 New York Convention in 1986, subject to the reciprocity and commercial reser- vations, and Chinese courts are obliged to recognise and enforce awards made in other contracting states. Applications for enforcement must be filed within two years from the last date for performance under the award with the Intermediate People’s Court at the respondent’s domicile or the location of its property. In practice, identifying enforceable assets within China remains the most common practical obstacle. 3.3 Practical Use of Arbitration in Insurance Matters Use of Arbitration Arbitration is commonly used in reinsurance, marine, aviation, energy, major property and other cross-bor- der disputes, where parties value specialist decision- makers and the enforceability of awards. However, even where policies specify arbitration, early settlement and negotiation remains the practi- cal preference for international insurance disputes. This is because international arbitration raises com- plex issues around choice of law, foreign law regimes, jurisdiction and cross-border enforcement, which most parties generally wish to avoid. These disputes
67 I NSURANCE L I T IGATI O N 2026
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