CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: John Wang, Xu Jun, Song Jia and Zhao Yuxuan, Wang Jing & Co
Wang Jing & Co Guangzhou Headquarters Suite 1504, Bank of Guangzhou Square No 30 Zhujiang East Road Zhujiang New Town Guangzhou PRC
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1. Maritime and Shipping Legislation and Regulation 1.1 Domestic Laws Establishing the Authorities of the Maritime and Shipping Courts The following articles in the Special Maritime Proce - dure Law of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) establish the authorities of both maritime and appel - late courts: • Article 4 – the maritime courts shall entertain actions brought by the parties in respect of mari - time tort, disputes over maritime contracts and other maritime disputes as provided for by law; and • Article 5 – in hearing and determining maritime cases, the maritime courts, the Higher People’s Courts in which those maritime courts are located and the Supreme People’s Court shall apply this Law. There are 11 maritime courts in the PRC. In practice, maritime and shipping claims are generally catego - rised into claims of maritime tort, maritime contract, maritime lien, marine insurance, ship ownership/pos - sessory lien/mortgage, salvage, general average and other claims as stipulated by law. The appellate courts for these claims are the Higher People’s Courts of the provinces where the mari - time courts are located. Those Higher Courts can also entertain maritime/shipping claims as courts
of first instance with an amount equal to or above CNY5 billion or which have a major impact in that area (although there is no clear standard for “major impact”). In that scenario, the Supreme People’s Court will be the appellate court for those cases. 1.2 Port State Control The PRC is a member of the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Asia-Pacif - ic Region. The Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) and its branches are the port state control authori - ties in the PRC. The MSA is responsible for maritime safety supervision on vessels registered outside main - land China. Where the MSA notices serious deficiencies affecting the seaworthiness of the vessel or the crew’s safety, or causing damages to the marine environment, they will detain the foreign ship, and that ship may not be permitted to leave the PRC port until the deficiencies are rectified. In cases of marine casualties, such as grounding, pol - lution and wreck-removal, the MSA is responsible for effecting emergency response and developing/imple - menting plans according to the circumstances. The MSA’s foregoing responsibilities apply to seafarers’ casualties caused by marine casualties. When possible, the MSA will also attend on board to undertake investigations of the marine casualties and issue investigation reports in which the cause
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