CIVIL PROCEDURE LAW OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (Adopted at the Fourth Session of the Seventh National People’s Congress on April 9, 1991; amended according to the Decision on Amending the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China adopted at the 30th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People’s Congress on October 28, 2007 ) Contents PART ONE GENERAL PROVISIONS Chapter I The Aim, Scope of Application and Basic Principles Chapter II Jurisdiction Section 1 Jurisdiction by Forum Level Section 2 Territorial Jurisdiction Section 3 Transfer and Designation of Jurisdiction Chapter III Trial Organization Chapter IV Withdrawal Chapter V Participants in Proceedings Section 1 Parties Section 2 Agents Ad Litem Chapter VI Evidence Chapter VII Time Periods and Service Section 1 Time Periods Section 2 Service Chapter VIII Conciliation Chapter IX Property Preservation and Advance Execution Chapter X Compulsory Measures Against Obstruction of Civil Proceedings Chapter XI Litigation Costs PART TWO TRIAL PROCEDURE Chapter XII Ordinary Procedure of First Instance Section 1 Bringing a Lawsuit and Entertaining a Case 1 Section 2 Preparations for Trial Section 3 Trial in Court Section 4 Suspension and Termination of Litigation Section 5 Judgment and Order Chapter XIII Summary Procedure Chapter XIV Procedure of Second Instance Chapter XV Special Procedure Section 1 General Stipulations Section 2 Cases Concerning the Qualification of Voters Section 3 Cases Concerning the Proclamation of a Person as Missing or Dead Section 4 Cases Concerning the Determination of Legal Incapacity or Restricted Legal Capacity of Citizens Section 5 Cases Concerning the Determination of a Property as Ownerless Chapter XVI Procedure for Trial Supervision Chapter XVII Summary Procedure for Hastening Recovery of a Debt Chapter XVIII Procedure for Publicizing Public Notice for Assertion of Claims PART THREE PROCEDURE OF EXECUTION Chapter XIX General Stipulations Chapter XX Application for Execution and Referral Chapter XXI Execution Measures Chapter XXII Suspension and Termination of Execution Part Four Special Provisions for Civil Proceedings of Cases Involving Foreign Element Chapter XXIII General Principles Chapter XXIV Jurisdiction Chapter XXV Service and Time Periods Chapter XXVI Property Preservation Chapter XXVII Arbitration 2 Chapter XXVIII Judicial Assistance PART ONE GENERAL PROVISIONS Chapter I The Aim, Scope of Application and Basic Principles Article 1 The Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China is formulated on the basis of the Constitution and in the light of the experience and actual conditions of our country in the trial of civil cases. Article 2 The Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China aims to protect the exercise of the litigation rights of the parties and ensure the ascertaining of facts by the people's courts, distinguish right from wrong, apply the law correctly, try civil cases promptly, affirm civil rights and obligations, impose sanctions for civil wrongs, protect the lawful rights and interests of the parties, educate citizens to voluntarily abide by the law, maintain the social and economic order, and guarantee the smooth progress of the socialist construction. Article 3 In dealing with civil litigation arising from disputes on property and personal relations between citizens, legal persons or other organizations and between the three of them, the peoples' courts shall apply the provisions of this Law. Article 4 Whoever engages in civil litigation within the territory of the People's Republic of China must abide by this Law.
Article 5 Aliens, stateless persons, foreign enterprises and organizations that bring suits or enter appearance in the people's courts shall have the same litigation rights and obligations as citizens, legal persons and other organizations of the People's Republic of China. If the courts of a foreign country impose restrictions on the civil litigation rights of the citizens, legal persons and other organizations of the People’s Republic of China, the people's courts of the People's Republic of China shall follow the principle of reciprocity regarding the civil litigation rights of the citizens, enterprises and organizations of that foreign country. Article 6 The people's courts shall exercise judicial powers with respect to civil cases. The people's courts shall try civil cases independently in accordance with the law, and shall be subject to no interference by any administrative organ, public organization or individual.
Article 7 In trying civil cases, the people's courts must base themselves on facts and take the law as the criterion. Article 8 The parties in civil litigation shall have equal litigation rights. The people's courts shall, in conducting the trials, safeguard their rights, facilitate their exercising the rights, and apply the law equally to them. 3 Article 9 In trying civil cases, the people's courts shall conduct conciliation for the parties on a voluntary and lawful basis; if conciliation fails, judgments shall be rendered without delay.
Article 10 In trying civil cases, the people's courts shall, according to the provisions of the law, follow the systems of panel hearing, withdrawal, public trial and the court of second instance being that of last instance. Article 11 Citizens of all nationalities shall have the right to use their native spoken and written languages in civil proceedings. Where minority nationalities live in aggregation in a community or where several nationalities live together in one area, the people's courts shall conduct hearings and issue legal documents in the spoken and written languages commonly used by the local nationalities. The people's courts shall provide translations for any participant in the proceedings who is not familiar with the spoken or written languages commonly used by the local nationalities.
Article 12 Parties to civil actions are entitled in the trials by the people's courts to argue for themselves. Article 13 The parties are free to deal with their own civil rights and litigation rights the way they prefer within the scope provided by the law. Article 14 The people's procuratorates shall have the right to exercise legal supervision over civil proceedings. Article 15 Where an act has infringed upon the civil rights and interests of the State, a collective organization or an individual, any State organ, public organization, enterprise or institution may support the injured unit or individual to bring an action in a people's court.
Article 16 The people's conciliation committees shall be mass organizations to conduct conciliation of civil disputes under the guidance of the grass-roots level people's governments and the primary people's courts. The people's conciliation committee shall conduct conciliation for the parties according to the Law and on a voluntary basis. The parties concerned shall carry out the settlement agreement reached through conciliation; those who decline conciliation or those for whom conciliation has failed or those who have backed out of the settlement agreement may institute legal proceedings in a people's court. If a people's conciliation committee, in conducting conciliation of civil disputes, acts contrary to the law, rectification shall be made by the people's court Article 17 The people's congresses of the national autonomous regions may formulate, in accordance with the Constitution and the principles of this Law, and in conjunction with the specific circumstances of the local nationalities, adaptive and supplementary provisions.
Such provisions made by an autonomous region shall be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for approval; those made by an autonomous prefecture or autonomous county shall be submitted to the standing committee of the people's congress of the relevant province or autonomous region for approval and to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for the record. 4 Chapter II Jurisdiction Section 1 Jurisdiction by Forum Level Article 18 The primary people's courts shall have jurisdiction as courts of first instance over civil cases, unless otherwise provided in this Law. Article 19 The intermediate people's courts shall have jurisdiction as courts of first instance over the following civil cases: (1) major cases involving foreign element; (2) cases that have major impact on the area under their jurisdiction; and (3) cases as determined by the Supreme People's Court to be under the jurisdiction of the intermediate people's courts. Article 20 The high people's courts shall have jurisdiction as courts of first instance over civil cases that have major impact on the areas under their jurisdiction.
Article 21 The Supreme People's Court shall have jurisdiction as the court of first instance over the following civil cases: (1) cases that have major impact on the whole country; and (2) cases that the Supreme People's Court deems it should try. Section 2 Territorial Jurisdiction Article 22 A civil lawsuit brought against a citizen shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court of the place where the defendant has his domicile; if the place of the defendant's domicile is different from that of his habitual residence, the lawsuit shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court of the place of his habitual residence. A civil lawsuit brought against a legal person or any other organization shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court of the place where the defendant has his domicile. Where the domiciles or habitual residences of several defendants in the same lawsuit are in the areas under the jurisdiction of two or more people's courts, all of those people's courts shall have jurisdiction over the lawsuit.
Article 23 The civil lawsuits described below shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court of the place where the plaintiff has his domicile; if the place of the plaintiff’s domicile is different from that of his habitual residence, the lawsuit shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court of the place of the plaintiff's habitual residence: (1) those concerning personal status brought against persons not residing within the territory of the People's Republic of China; 5 (2) those concerning the personal status of persons whose whereabouts are unknown or who have been declared as missing. (3) those brought against persons who are undergoing rehabilitation through labour; and (4) those brought against persons who are in imprisonment. Article 24 A lawsuit brought on a contract dispute shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court of the place where the defendant has his domicile or where the contract is performed. Article 25 The parties to a contract may agree to choose in their written contract the people's court of the place where the defendant has his domicile, where the contract is performed, where the contract is signed, where the plaintiff has his domicile or where the object of the action is located to exercise jurisdiction over the case, provided that the provisions of this Law regarding jurisdiction by forum level and exclusive jurisdiction are not violated.
Article 26 A lawsuit brought on an insurance contract dispute shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court of the place where the defendant has his domicile or where the insured object is located. Article 27 A lawsuit brought on a bill dispute shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court of the place where the bill is to be paid or where the defendant has his domicile. Article 28 A lawsuit arising from a dispute over a railway, road, water, or air transport contract or over a combined transport contract shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court of the place of dispatch or the place of destination or where the defendant has his domicile. Article 29 A lawsuit brought on a tort action shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court of the place where the tort is committed or where the defendant has his domicile.
Article 30 A lawsuit brought on claims for damages caused by a railway, road, water transport or air accident shall be under the jurisdiction of the people's court of the place where the accident occurred or where the vehicle or ship first arrived after the accident or where the aircraft first landed after the accident, or where the defendant has his domicile.