Hainan's 1st Int'l. Commercial Court Opens in Jiangdong New Area

On December 22, the First Intermediate People’s Court of Hainan Province and Haikou Jiangdong New Area Administration held a signing ceremony to commemorate the inauguration of the Judicial Service Workstation of the First International Civil and Commercial Court to be set up in Haikou City - the capital of China’s south Hainan Province.

At present, a total of 332 foreign-funded enterprises have already been established in the Jiangdong New Area to the east of the Haikou section of the Nandu River. With a planned area of 298km², Jiangdong (meaning "east of the river") integrates commerce, industry, and residential facilities as well as includes an ecological buffer zone with a national grade nature preserve. The year-on-year growth rate for the establishment of the foreign-funded enterprises in Jiangdong now is 232% and the past two years have already seen real foreign capital investments in excess of USD 1 billion. With the rapid increase of international business and relations taking place in Jiangdong, it had become increasingly obvious that a court would need to be set up.

The First Intermediate People’s Court of Hainan Province and the Haikou Jiangdong New Area Administration signed an agreement to establish a judicial service cooperation mechanism.‍

HAIKOU JIANGDONG NEW AREA ADMINISTRATION

After the judicial workstation's establishment, it will provide on-site and online services (such as judicial credit investigation, judicial consultation, and interpretation of policies and regulations) for both domestic and international investors so as to help them better operate in the Hainan Free Trade Port. The workstation will also provide market entities with convenient and efficient one-stop litigation, dispute resolution, and public legal services.

Cooperating and using methods of international commercial dispute litigation, mediation, and arbitration to resolve conflicts encountered by enterprises engaged in international trade, the workstation set up by the two institutions will publish typical judicial cases and white papers as well as holding seminars and special lectures; it will also guide market entities to both increase their awareness of legal risks and increase their willingness to resolve disputes in a diversified legal manner and will enhance market entities' confidence when it comes to investing in Hainan.