Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, located on the shore of Taihu Lake, has been striving to be at the forefront of opening up to the outside world.

Wuxi is famous both at home and abroad for its "Japanese capital highland", "Korean capital plate" and "European and American groups". In recent years, Wuxi has been actively involved in the construction of the "Belt and Road" intersection and the construction of the China (Jiangsu) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and the foreign-related economy has flourished.

In 2002, the first year after my country's accession to the WTO, the Wuxi Intermediate People's Court became one of the first courts in the country to obtain centralized jurisdiction over foreign-related commercial cases. On June 28, 2022, the Supreme People's Court approved the Wuxi Intermediate People's Court to set up a specialized international commercial trial institution.

The Wuxi court aims to create high-quality cases, provide precise services, temper the elite team, and strengthen sincere cooperation, so as to comprehensively polish the "golden brand" of the international business environment.

Actively explore ways to identify and apply foreign laws

"It's really a headache to ascertain foreign laws, but you have to conquer the headache." Feng Fang said quickly.

Feng Fang graduated from Fudan University with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Soochow University. She has been engaged in foreign-related commercial trials in Wuxi Intermediate People's Court for a long time.

A few years ago, Feng Fang encountered a difficult problem when trying the case of the plaintiff Wu Peiliang v. Sheng Haomin and Shen Yanqin for property damage compensation - she needed to find out the foreign law.

The plaintiff, Wu Peiliang, demanded that the defendant Sheng Haomin compensate 10.5333 million yuan for the equity transfer, and demanded that Sheng Haomin's wife, Shen Yanqin, bear joint and several liabilities within the scope of the joint property of the husband and wife. The case involved Lily of the Valley Marine Biology (Singapore) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Lily of the Land) and it was necessary to clarify which country’s laws apply. scope of rights and obligations. According to Article 14 of the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Application of Laws in Foreign-Related Civil Relations", the dispute shall be handled under the laws of Singapore.

Looking at the thick file, Feng Fang frowned. Only the defendant provided the "Singapore Company Law" (English version), and both parties were unable to provide other relevant laws and cases in Singapore.

It is the responsibility of Chinese courts and judges to insist on ascertaining foreign laws, and Chinese law cannot be easily applied on the grounds that "foreign laws cannot be ascertained". When the parties are unable to provide extraterritorial law, the court should exhaust reasonable means to demonstrate the modernization of foreign-related judicial capabilities. Feng Fang encouraged herself.

Feng Fang first searched the WestLaw database, and found the company law part in the "Selected Economic and Trade Laws of the Republic of Singapore", and also found the introduction of the company legal system in the "Guide to the Economic and Trade Laws of the Republic of Singapore". Feng Fang's eyes turned dark from the pile of Singapore laws, but she couldn't find any legal provisions related to this case.

Is there really no way out of mountains and rivers? Feng Fang rubbed her forehead and thought for a while, feeling that as long as she persisted in the investigation, it would eventually be "another village".

Soon, Feng Fang got in touch with the legal commissioner who had been engaged in the business of Singapore companies for a long time. The commissioner said that Singapore's written company law only stipulates the most basic parts, and Singapore's company law supports dormant shareholders. He has seen precedents requiring dormant shareholders to take responsibility, so he thinks that he can also find support for dormant shareholders. Jurisprudence in asserting rights.

The legal commissioner's reminder was like a glimmer of light in the dark sea, which made Feng Fang's eyes shine when she was searching for it in the ocean of law. According to Article 193 of the "Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Implementation of the General Principles of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China (Trial Implementation)", she immediately consulted experts on the Singapore company law from East China University of Political Science and Law, Fudan University, and Soochow University. After two months, I finally received an email from Mr. Zhu Ping of East China University of Political Science and Law. According to the email prompt, Feng Fang found the provisions of Article 76D (8) of the "Singapore Company Law", and found out that Singapore law allows others to hold the company's equity on behalf of others. .

The collegial panel supported the plaintiff's petition, and the defendant appealed to the Higher People's Court of Jiangsu Province after the verdict, and the original verdict was upheld in the second instance.

According to Zhang Hao, head of the Wuxi International Commercial Court, in foreign-related commercial trials, whether foreign laws can be ascertained and applied accurately will directly affect the quality of trials. The Wuxi International Commercial Court effectively responded to the judicial needs of foreign-related commercial subjects for the application of foreign law judgments, and actively explored ways to ascertain and apply foreign laws. In recent years, it has handled 26 cases of ascertainment of foreign laws, actively creating Wuxi practice samples for the application of extraterritorial laws.

Not long ago, Wuxi Intermediate People's Court signed a "Strategic Cooperation Agreement" with Zhejiang University, University of International Business and Economics, and Jiangnan University to establish a "Foreign-related Judicial Research Center". Wuxi International Commercial Court will rely on this center to build a "first-class foreign-related judicial protection With the goal of "Think Tank", strengthen the interaction between foreign-related trial theory and practice, unblock the way to ascertain foreign laws, and promote the docking of Wuxi's foreign-related commercial trial work with international rules and practices.

Provide legal risk reminders for "going global" enterprises

The Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone in Cambodia has spacious roads and neatly arranged factories. "We are all proud to be able to work in this special zone. Our life has undergone tremendous changes from riding bicycles to driving cars." Not long ago, a Cambodian woman told Deng Wanqiu, legal director of Wuxi Hongdou Group.

According to Deng Wanqiu, the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone is led by Hongdou Group and jointly developed by Chinese and Cambodian enterprises. It has become a model project for China-Cambodia practical cooperation and a "locomotive" for the economic development of Sihanoukville Province.

In order to help the company's compliance construction, the Wuxi International Commercial Court has sent personnel to Hongdou Group for many times to conduct research, and also organized famous international law scholars, foreign-related lawyers, and representatives of foreign-invested enterprises to hold service export-oriented economic development forums in the name of the Foreign-related Judicial Research Center.

In recent years, the judges of the Wuxi International Commercial Court have also visited Fasten Hongsheng Group Co., Ltd. and other enterprises many times to conduct in-depth research on the "going global" model and problems encountered by enterprises, and formed the "Law on "Going Global" Enterprises in Wuxi Area Research Report on Risk Prevention", reminding enterprises of legal risks in the process of "going global".

Zhang Hao introduced that the Wuxi International Commercial Court provides risk warnings for "going global" enterprises. This is part of the Wuxi International Commercial Court's exploration of the establishment of the "Belt and Road" judicial cooperation mechanism, and it is also an inevitable requirement for the Wuxi International Commercial Court to serve the national strategy. .

Adhere to equal protection and non-discriminatory protection

Kam Paper Plastic Industry Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Kam Company) in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan entered into a sales contract with a steel company in Wuxi through WeChat. Non-contractual rolls of aluminum foil. The dispute between the two parties soon reached the Wuxi International Commercial Court. Kam Company filed a lawsuit requesting to terminate the sales contract between the two parties and required a steel company in Wuxi to return the payment of US$143,035 and capital occupation fees. According to the law of our country chosen by the agreement between the two parties, the court finally ruled in favor of all the claims of Kam Company.

In recent years, the Wuxi International Commercial Court has accepted a number of disputes over contracts for the sale of international goods. In some cases, the plaintiff is an overseas purchaser and the defendant is a local enterprise in Wuxi. The court clarified the contractual relationship through accurate application of the law, and finally a number of foreign enterprises Obtained a favorable judgment or reached a mediation with a local company under the auspices of the court.

According to Yang Zhigang, vice president of Wuxi Intermediate People's Court, the Wuxi court has conveyed the confidence of stabilizing foreign investment with intensive actions, demonstrated its determination to ensure the development of an export-oriented economy with pragmatic and efficient measures, and vigorously built a "chamber mediation + judicial confirmation" model to achieve foreign-related Effective connection between commercial litigation and mediation. From 2018 to the first half of 2023, Wuxi courts accepted a total of 1,022 foreign-related commercial cases and closed 1,004 cases, involving 38 countries or regions including the United States, Britain, France, and Germany.

Li Yalin, Chief Judge of the Fourth Civil Court of Jiangsu High Court, said that in recent years, international trade and investment have developed rapidly, and the number of foreign-related cases is on the rise. Spirit, and strive to build a preferred place for international commercial dispute settlement.