Beijing Court to handle more international commercial cases

The Beijing No 4 Intermediate People's Court will focus more on handling foreign-related commercial cases, in a bid to help build a sound business environment for market entities at home and abroad according to the rule of law, an official said.

"While upholding the principle of giving equal protection to every litigant, regardless of where they are from, we're also planning to improve our international commercial tribunal and optimize legal services, so that all litigants can settle their disputes here more efficiently," Shan Guojun, president of the court, told a news conference on Monday, which marked the 10th anniversary of the court's establishment.

The court will also strengthen efforts to be the preferred venue of choice for resolving international commercial cases, he said.

The court has been responsible for handling Beijing's commercial disputes regarding the Belt and Road Initiative since 2018. So far, 531 such cases have been concluded, covering 88 countries and regions involved in the initiative, according to data released at the press conference.

To further improve the quality of solving foreign-related disputes involving the capital and promote high-level opening-up, the Supreme People's Court, China's top court, approved the setup of the Beijing International Commercial Tribunal as a division under the intermediate court in 2021.

At the tribunal, the decision to resolve disputes through mediation, arbitration or litigation, depends on litigants. To date, a total of 319 international commercial cases have been concluded through mediation, which involved over 1 billion yuan ($137 million), the data showed.

In addition, greater efforts have been made in legal talent education and training, with more legal cooperations with domestic and foreign academies and organizations, according to Li Yingxin, vice-president of the court.

More than 200 judicial officials from 13 countries and regions have visited the court to exchange experience and ideas over the past few years, Li said.

In the past 10 years, the intermediate court has concluded 45,584 cases, not only involving foreign affairs, but also covering the fields of environmental protection, internet and smuggling, the data said.