CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: John Wang, Xu Jun, Song Jia and Zhao Yuxuan, Wang Jing & Co
(3) Claims for nuclear damage under the International Convention on Limitation of Liability for Nuclear Dam- age to which the PRC is a party; (4) Claims against the ship-owners of a nuclear ship for nuclear damage; (5) Claims by the servants of the ship-owners or salvor, if under the law governing the contract of employ- ment, the ship-owner or salvor is not entitled to limit his liability or if he is by such law only permitted to limit his liability to an amount greater than that provided for in this Chapter”. Articles 210 and 211 regulate the calculation of limi - tations of liability, which is generally identical to the limitation level regulated by the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims. The CMC was amended in 2025, and the change will come into force on 1 May 2026 (CMC2025). After the CMC2025 takes effect, the current limits of the ship’s liability will be significantly increased, compared to the current limitation regime. The PRC sets a relatively low standard for limitations of liability for ships with a gross tonnage ranging from 20 tons to 300 tons and those exceeding 300 tons but engaged in domestic transport services and other coastal works. 3.4 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties China is a Contracting State to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and Chinese courts have, in judicial practice, expressly relied on the Convention’s interpretative rules when construing international con - ventions to which China is a party. In particular, courts have referred to Articles 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention as guiding principles when interpreting provisions of substantive international transport and liability conventions, especially where the convention text does not expressly resolve a spe - cific issue. Chinese courts have adopted a good-faith interpretation based on the ordinary meaning of the treaty terms, read in their context and in light of the treaty’s object and purpose, and have, where appro - priate, taken into account supplementary means of interpretation.
This approach has been reflected in a number of judi - cial decisions concerning international transport con - ventions. For example, in cases involving the interpre - tation of limitation and time-bar provisions under the Montreal Convention, Chinese courts have explicitly applied the Vienna Convention’s interpretative meth - odology to determine the legal nature and effect of treaty provisions that are not expressly characterised by the convention itself. Similarly, in maritime cases concerning the inter - pretation of liability and compensation scope under international oil pollution conventions, Chinese courts have relied on the Vienna Convention’s principles to clarify the meaning and limits of treaty-based com - pensation regimes, thereby ensuring consistency with the treaty’s purpose and international uniformity. Overall, while Chinese courts apply international con - ventions directly in accordance with domestic con - flict-of-laws rules, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties serves as an important interpretative refer - ence, contributing to a structured and internationally aligned approach to treaty interpretation in Chinese judicial practice. 3.5 Procedure and Requirements for Establishing a Limitation Fund Application for the constitution of a limitation fund can be made before or during litigation proceedings, but no later than the issuance of the first-instance judg - ment. The court will notify known interested parties and make an announcement to unknown interested par - ties via public media within seven days after the appli - cation. Announcement of the constitution shall be produced in public media for three days consecutively; the announcing period is 30 days from the last announce - ment. Notified parties can raise dissension against the con - stitution within seven days upon receipt of the notice; parties not notified can raise dissention against the constitution within 30 days from the last announce - ment date.
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