CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Chuanhong Long, Ji Liu and Xiao Jin, CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office
• identifying possible jurisdictions based on the type of action; and • determining the level of jurisdiction according to the importance of the case. In China, as is the case in other countries, certain types of cases are subject to exclusive jurisdic- tion. For example, real estate cases fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the court where the real estate is located. Another example of exclusive jurisdiction is intellectual property cases. This kind of case usually goes to the intellectual prop- erty court within the jurisdiction. After confirming that the case does not fall under exclusive jurisdiction, competent courts can be determined based on the type of case accord- ing to laws and regulations. In China, the princi- ple of jurisdiction is to conduct proceedings at the location of the defendant. That is, generally speaking, the court of the defendant’s domicile can always exercise jurisdiction over the case. However, there might be some other options provided by laws and regulations. For instance, in contract cases, the competent courts include the court in the district where the defendant is domiciled, the court in the district where the contract is performed, the court in the district where the contract is signed, the court in the district where the plaintiff is domiciled, and the court in the district where the subject matter of the contract is located. The plaintiff may choose one of the courts to bring the action. Finally, when the competent court is determined, the importance of the case needs to be consid- ered. For example, the first instance of a normal case is under the jurisdiction of the basic peo- ple’s court. However, if the case is of particu- lar significance in the jurisdiction or even in the country as a whole, the intermediate people’s
court, a high people’s court or even the Supreme People’s Court may take over the jurisdiction. 3.4 Initial Complaint After the court of first instance has been deter- mined, a complaint may be filed to initiate the lawsuit. In China, the initial complaint does not need to contain too many details of the case; instead, it needs to include some basic infor- mation about both parties, such as the name and address of the defendant, the cause of the action, and the plaintiff’s claim. Along with the complaint, the plaintiff is required to submit evidence that substantiates the claims. This evidence should be sufficient to elucidate the nature of the dispute and the basis of the plaintiff’s claims, though it does not need to be comprehensive enough to enable judgment. The plaintiff may amend their claims at any time before the conclusion of the court debate during the hearing. 3.5 Rules of Service In China, service is arranged by the court. Chinese courts are adopting various ways to serve documents, including direct service, elec- tronic service, mail service, etc. If a court fails to serve documents after trying all kinds of meth- ods provided by law, the court can serve by pub- lic announcement. Service is deemed to have been made in a domestic case thirty days after the date of the public announcement. Where a foreign entity is involved, the period is three months after the date of the public announce- ment. 3.6 Failure to Respond If a defendant receives the court files but refus- es to participate in the proceedings after being
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