Jurisdiction of foreign-related court proceedings

1. Jurisdiction of contract disputes or other property rights disputes where the defendant has no domicile in China.
If a lawsuit is brought against a defendant who has no domicile in China due to a contract dispute or tort dispute, the plaintiff may choose to have jurisdiction in the people’s court in the place where the dispute has some connection. According to the Civil Procedure Law, if a lawsuit is brought against a defendant who has no domicile within the territory of the People’s Republic of China due to a contract dispute or other property rights and interests dispute, if the contract is signed or performed within the territory of the People’s Republic of China, or the subject matter of the lawsuit is within the territory of the People’s Republic of China, or the defendant has property available for seizure within the territory of the People’s Republic of China, Or the defendant has a representative office within the territory of the People’s Republic of China, which may be under the jurisdiction of the people’s court of the place where the contract is signed, the place where the contract is performed, the place where the object of action is located, the place where the property available for seizure is located, the place where the infringement is committed, or the place where the representative office is located. This provision makes it clear that if a lawsuit is brought against a defendant outside China due to a contract dispute, and the contract is signed or performed in China, or the subject matter of the lawsuit is in China, or the defendant has property available for seizure in China, or the defendant has a representative office in China, the people’s court of the place where the contract is signed, the contract is performed, the subject matter of the lawsuit is located, the property available for seizure is located, or the representative office is located may have jurisdiction. If a lawsuit is brought against a defendant outside China due to an infringement dispute, if the place where the infringement occurred and the place where the result of the infringement occurred is in China, or if the defendant has property available for seizure in China, or if the defendant has a representative office in China, the people’s court of the place where the infringement occurred, the place where the result of the infringement occurred, the place where the object of the lawsuit is located, the place where the property available for seizure is located, or the place where the representative office is located may have jurisdiction. The above property rights disputes include real estate disputes. Even if the real estate is abroad, as long as the defendant has property available for seizure in China, the plaintiff can bring a lawsuit to the people’s court.

2. The parties to a foreign-related contract or foreign-related property rights dispute may choose the court of jurisdiction by agreement.
The Civil Procedure Law stipulates that the parties to a dispute over a foreign-related contract or foreign-related property rights and interests may, by written agreement, choose the court of the place where the dispute is actually connected to exercise jurisdiction. If a people’s court of the People’s Republic of China is chosen to exercise jurisdiction, the provisions of this Law on jurisdiction by level and exclusive jurisdiction shall not be violated. This provision is governed by agreement: (1) The parties to a foreign-related contract may choose the people’s court of the place where the defendant is domiciled, the place where the contract is performed, the place where the contract is signed, the place where the plaintiff is domiciled, and the place where the subject matter is located for jurisdiction by written agreement. (2) The parties to a foreign-related tort dispute may reach a written agreement after the dispute arises, and choose the people’s court of the place where the defendant has his domicile, where the tort is committed, where the plaintiff has his domicile, and where the subject matter is located to exercise jurisdiction. Agreement jurisdiction shall not violate the provisions of hierarchical jurisdiction and exclusive jurisdiction.