The Dream Factory of China

Source :Qianhai Communication Center

From 2015 to 2020, the Qianhai Cooperation Zone People’s Court has applied extraterritorial laws to 102 cases, of which 85 were heard using Hong Kong laws, ranking first among all grassroots courts in the country.

The Qianhai court has jurisdiction over all the first-instance civil and commercial cases in Shenzhen that involve foreign, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan parties. From 2015 to 2020, the court accepted 7,092 Hong Kong-related commercial cases.

The court has established a neutral third-party assessment mechanism for Hong Kong-related cases, under which senior Hong Kong legal experts conduct third-party evaluations. A collegiate panel conducts legality reviews on the evaluation reports, which is conducive to improving the accuracy of the application of Hong Kong laws and guides the litigants to resolve disputes in a reasonable and diversified manner.

In a case heard by the Qianhai court, a Hong Kong resident surnamed Wen died before repaying a loan to a mainland resident. After fulfilling the obligation to repay the loan on behalf of Wen, the loan guarantor sued Wen’s legal heir to ask the defendant to repay the loan and interest.

“This case involves property inheritance and debt settlement matters. Although the loan occurred on the Mainland, the deceased Wen is a Hong Kong resident and his ordinary residence was also in Hong Kong. Therefore, the inheritance issue in this case should be tried in accordance with Hong Kong law,” said Yu Changyong, the judge of the case.

In order to minimize the lawsuit burden for litigants, the Qianhai Court initiated the neutral third-party assessment mechanism and entrusted an expert to give legal opinions on the applicable Hong Kong law in this case. After the court explained to the plaintiff the applicable Hong Kong inheritance law, the plaintiff decided to withdraw the lawsuit to avoid potential additional time and economic costs.

Over the past years, the Qianhai Court has established a complete extraterritorial law ascertainment mechanism and has given full play to the advantages of Hong Kong jurors’ familiarity with the laws and industry rules of Hong Kong and other countries and regions, which has strengthened investors’ confidence in the law-based business environment in Qianhai.