Litigation

Courts with the jurisdiction for foreigners in China to file a lawsuit

According to the relevant laws of China, except for major foreign-related cases, when a foreigner in China files a lawsuit in China, he shall file before a district people’s court. Based on the rules of the Supreme People’s Court, different regions in China apply different standards to major foreign-related cases, and it should follow the specific rules of the Supreme People’s Court. Here only the specific practice in the five regions of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Tianjin will be introduced.

Beijing: Foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 100 million Yuan are under the jurisdiction of the higher people’s court; foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 20 million Yuan are under the jurisdiction of the intermediate people’s court; foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of less than 20 million Yuan are under the jurisdiction of the district people’s court.

Shanghai: Foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 100 million Yuan are under the jurisdiction of the higher people’s court; foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 20 million Yuan are under the jurisdiction of the intermediate people’s court; foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of less than 20 million Yuan are under the jurisdiction of the district people’s court.

Guangdong: Foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 200 million Yuan are under the jurisdiction of the higher people’s court; for the intermediate people’s court of Guangzhou, Foshan, and Dongguang, foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 40 million Yuan but less than 200 million Yuan are under their jurisdiction; for the intermediate people’s court of Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Huizhou, foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 20 million Yuan but less than 200 million Yuan are under their jurisdiction; for the intermediate people’s court of Shantou, Chaozhou, Jieyang, Shanwei, Meizhou, Heyuan, Shaoguan, Qingyuan, Zhaoqing, Yunfu, Yangjiang, Maoming and Zhanjiang, foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 10 million Yuan but less than 200 million Yuan are under their jurisdiction.

Zhejiang: Foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 100 million Yuan are under the jurisdiction of the higher people’s court; for the intermediate people’s court of Hangzhou and Ningbo, foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 10 million Yuan are under their jurisdiction; for the intermediate people’s court of Wenzhou, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Taizhou and Jinhua, foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 5 million Yuan are under their jurisdiction; for other the intermediate people’s courts, foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 2 million Yuan are under their jurisdiction.

Tianjing: Foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 50 million Yuan are under the jurisdiction of the higher people’s court; foreign-related civil and commercial cases of first instance with the litigation bid of more than 5 million Yuan are under the jurisdiction of the intermediate people’s court.