Fafa [1987] No. 5 of the Supreme People's Court, April 10, 1987, pursuant to the decision adopted at the 18th session of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on December 2, 1986.

China accedes to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards as adopted in 1958 in New York (hereinafter “New York Convention”). This Convention will come into force in China as of April 22, 1987.

All high people's courts and intermediate people's courts shall immediately organize economic and civil judges, enforcement staff and other relevant personnel to carefully study and practically implement this important international convention. You are hereby notified of the following issues concerning the implementation of this Convention:

I.In accordance with the reciprocity reservation declaration made by China upon its accession to this Convention, China will only apply this Convention to the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards made in the territory of another contracting state. In case of any discrepancy between the provisions of this Convention and the provisions of China's Civil Procedure Law (Trial Implementation), this Convention prevails.

Where an arbitral award made within the territory of a non-contracting state needs to be recognized and enforced by a Chinese court, Article 204 of the Civil Procedure Law (Trial Implementation) shall apply.

II. In accordance with the commercial reservation declaration made by China upon its accession to this Convention, China will apply the Convention only to differences arising out of legal relationships, whether contractual or not, which are considered commercial under the national law of the People's Republic of China. "Legal relationships, whether contractual or not, which are considered commercial" means the economic rights and obligations arising from contracts, torts or relevant legal provisions, such as purchase and sale of goods, lease of property, project contracting, processing, technology transfer, equity or contractual joint adventure, exploration and development of natural resources, insurance, credit, labor service, agency, consultation service, marine, civil aviation, railway or road passenger and cargo transportation, product liability, environment pollution, marine accident, and ownership disputes, except disputes between foreign investors and the host government.

III. In accordance with Article IV of the New York Convention, an application to a people's court in China for the recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award made in the territory of another contracting state is filed by a party to the arbitral award. The application shall be under the jurisdiction of the intermediate people's court at the following place:

(1) If the party against whom the award is invoked is a natural person, the place of his or her household registration or the place of his or her residence.

(2) If the party against whom the award is invoked is a legal entity, the place of its principal business office.

(3) If the party against whom the award is invoked does not have any household registration, residence or principal business office in China but has any property in the territory of China, the place where the property is located.

IV.After receiving a party's application for the recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award, the people's court of China having jurisdiction shall examine the arbitral award. If the court deems that the arbitral award does not fall under the circumstances set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article V of the New York Convention, it shall rule to recognize the award as binding and enforced the award according to the rules of procedure in the Civil Procedure Law (Trial Implementation). If the court deems that the arbitral award falls under any of the circumstances set out in paragraph 2 of Article V or the evidence provided by the party against whom the award is invoked proves that the award falls under any of the circumstances set out in paragraph 1 of Article V, it shall rule to dismiss the application and refuse recognition and enforcement of the arbitral award 

V.Applications may be filed with the people's courts in China only for the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards made in another contracting state after the New York Convention comes into force in China. Such applications shall be filed within the time limit for enforcement application prescribed in Article 169 of the Civil Procedure Law (Trial Implementation).

Appendix I: Relevant Provisios Quoted in this Notice from the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards

Article IV    

1. To obtain the recognition and enforcement mentioned in the preceding article, the party applying for recognition and enforcement shall, at the time of the application, supply: (a) The duly authenticated original award or a duly certificated copy thereof; (b) The original agreement referred to in article II or a duly certificated copy thereof.

2. If the said award or agreement is not made in an official language of the country in which the award is relied upon, the party applying for recognition and enforcement of the award shall produce a translation of these documents into such language. The translation shall be certified by an official or sworn translator or by a diplomatic or consular agent.

Article V 1. Recognition and enforcement of the award may be refused, at the request of the party against whom it is invoked, only if that party furnishes to the competent authority where the recognition and enforcement is sought, proof that:

(a) The parties to the agreement referred to in article II were, under the law applicable to them, under some incapacity, or the said agreement is not valid under the law to which the parties have subjected it or, failing any indication thereon, under the law of the country where the award was made; or

(b) The party against whom the award is invoked was not given proper notice of the appointment of the arbitrator or the arbitration proceedings or was otherwise unable to present his case; or 

(c) The award deals with a difference not contemplated by or not falling within the terms of the submission to arbitration, or it contains decisions on matters beyond the scope of the submission to arbitration, provided that, if the decisions on matters submitted to arbitration can be separated from those not so submitted, that part of the award which contains decisions on matters submitted to arbitration may be recognized or enforced; or 

(d) The composition of the arbitral authority or the arbitral procedure was not in accordance with the agreement, or, failing such agreement, was not in accordance with the law of the country where the arbitration took place; or

(e) The award has not yet become binding on the parties, or has been set aside or suspended by a competent authority of the country in which, or under the law of which, that award was made.

2. Recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award may also be refused if the competent authority in the country where recognition and enforcement is sought finds that:

(a) The subject matter of the difference is not capable of settlement by arbitration under the law of that country; or

(b) The recognition or enforcement of the award would be contrary to the public policy of that country.

Appendix II:  Relevant Provisions Quoted in this Notice from the Civil Procedure Law (Trial) of the People's Republic of China

Article 169    The period of enforcement application shall be one year, if one or two of the two parties is or are an individual or individuals; if both of the two parties are enterprises and institutions, organs or leagues, the said period shall be six months. 

Article 204    The affirmed judgments or awards, which are enforced by the people's courts of the People's Republic of China by mandate, shall undergo examination and investigation in accordance with the international treaties, which were concluded by the People's Republic of China or with the People's Republic of China as a party, or the reciprocal principles. The validity of the awards, which are not considered to be in violation with the basic standard of the law of the People's Republic of China or the state and social interests of this country, shall be recognized with the enforcement being conformable with the provisions of this law. Otherwise, they shall be retruned to the feign courts.

Appendix: Contracting States of The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards

Denmark (1, 2), France (1, 2), Greece (1, 2), Holy See (1, 2), United States of American (1, 2), Austria (1), Belgium (1), the Federal Republic of Germany (1), Ireland (1), Japan (1), Luxembourg (1), Netherlands (1), Switzerland (1), United Kingdom and Northern Ireland (1) Norway (1) Australia, Finland, New Zealand (1) San Marino, Spain, Italy, Canada, Sweden, Democratic Germany (1, 2), Hungary (1, 2), Poland (1, 2), Romania (1, 2), The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (1, 2,3), Bulgaria (1), Czechoslovakia (1), Soviet Union (1), Belarus (1), Ukraine (1), Botswana (1, 2), South Africa (1, 2), China (1, 2), Cuba (1, 2), Cyprus (1, 2), Ecuador (1, 2), India (1, 2), Indonesia (1, 2), Madagascar (1, 2), Nigeria (1, 2), Philippines (1, 2), Trinidad and Tobago (1, 2), Tunisia (1, 2), Guatemala (1, 2), South Korea (1, 2), Monaco (1, 2), Kuwait (1), Morocco (1), United Republic of Tanzania (1), Benin, Chile, Colombia, Cambodia, Egypt, Ghana, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Niger, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Uruguay, Djibouti, Haiti, Panama, Malaysia, Singapore.

Note (Declarations and reservations): 

1.The contracting state will apply the Convention, on the basis of reciprocity, to the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards made only in the territory of another Contracting State.

2.The contracting state will apply the Convention only to differences arising out of legal relationships, whether contractual or not, which are considered as commercial under its national law.

3.The Convention is applied in regard to the contracting state only to those arbitral awards which were adopted after the coming of the Convention into effect.

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*The original text is Chinese and has been translated into English for reference only. If there is any inconsistency or ambiguity between the Chinese version and the English version, the Chinese version shall prevail.