Meaning
Legal procedures in Chinese intermediate people’s courts govern the execution of binding decisions issued by domestic or foreign arbitration commissions. This execution process, known as arbitral award enforcement, requires the holding of an effective award and a formal application within the two-year statutory limitation period. It covers the seizure of assets or the restriction of corporate representatives where a party fails to perform voluntarily.
Execution stops if the underlying arbitration agreement is found invalid by a competent court.
Judicial Procedure
Intermediate people’s courts at the domicile of the respondent or where the property is located hold jurisdiction over applications. Filing is initiated by the prevailing party submitting the original award and the arbitration agreement translated into Chinese by a certified agency. The court must decide whether to docket the case within seven days of receipt.
Once accepted, the court issues an execution notice giving the non-performing party a brief window to comply before coercive measures are applied.
Statutory Refusal
Judicial reviews under the Civil Procedure Law allow courts to reject execution under strict conditions. For foreign-related cases, these grounds are limited to procedural issues such as lack of proper notice or the composition of the tribunal violating arbitration rules. Substantive errors in the application of law are excluded from court review.
This distinction ensures that courts do not re-examine the merits of the dispute.
Enforcement Practice
Execution success in local jurisdictions often depends on the integration of court networks with commercial registries. Courts use an online inquiry system to locate assets across provinces instantly. However, foreign parties face delays when the respondent hides assets through complex corporate networks.
