Supreme People’s Court Biweekly Developments: September 2025

This post highlights judicial interpretations, policy documents, and guiding or typical cases issued since the middle of September (2025).

  1. Judicial interpretations and policy or other judicial documents

For an explanation of judicial interpretations, see this post; for an explanation of policy documents, see these posts or my 2024 article.

 

Title Type Analysis
Supreme People’s Court Interpretation on Some Issues Related to the Application of the PRC Company Law《最高人民法院关于适用〈中华人民共和国公司法〉若干问题的解释(征求意见稿)》, issued evening of 30 September, open for comment until 20 October Judicial interpretation (draft) Draft interpretation has 90 articles, not yet aware of translation or analysis in English.  SPC has “already engaged in extensive preliminary research and preliminary consultation with experts, scholars, and relevant departments.”  Provisions include ones related to liquidation and dissolution of companies; disregarding legal personality of related companies; 10 draft provisions related to listed companies, including VAM agreements.  This article comments on the General Provisions, more to come.
Opinions On Promoting the High-Quality Development of the International Commercial Court
and Serving and Ensuring High-Level Opening Up, Issued 25 September (关于推进国际商事法庭高质量发展
服务保障高水平对外开放的意见
) link is to text & press release
Policy document

Also known as a “judicial document” ( 司法文件) or “judicial normative

document” (司法规范性文件), “judicial

policy document” or “judicial regulatory documents” 司法政策性文件).

Not yet aware of analysis in English, see quasi-official analysis on the WeChat public account of the SPC’s #4 Civil Division. My own analysis is forthcoming. Provisions include promoting the use of international commercial courts; standardizing translations; further provisions on parallel proceedings; etc.  China Daily report here
Notice on Issuing Matters Concerning the Jurisdiction of First-Instance Civil and Administrative Intellectual Property Cases by Basic-Level People’s Courts 最高人民法院
关于印发基层人民法院管辖第一审知识产权民事、行政案件有关事项的通知
In effect from 1 October
Judicial normative document Not yet aware of analysis in English; the notice designates courts to hear civil and administrative intellectual property cases in the first instance. Note that many courts have limited jurisdiction in civil cases, depending on the amount in dispute. This could be seen as an assessment of the quality of that court. Shanghai and Beijing courts do not have amount in dispute limitations
 

Title Type Analysis
Supreme People’s Court Interpretation on Some Issues Related to the Application of the PRC Company Law《最高人民法院关于适用〈中华人民共和国公司法〉若干问题的解释(征求意见稿)》, issued evening of 30 September, open for comment until 20 October Judicial interpretation (draft) Draft interpretation has 90 articles, not yet aware of translation or analysis in English.  SPC has “already engaged in extensive preliminary research and preliminary consultation with experts, scholars, and relevant departments.”  Provisions include ones related to liquidation and dissolution of companies; disregarding legal personality of related companies; 10 draft provisions related to listed companies, including VAM agreements
On Promoting the High-Quality Development of the International Commercial Court
Opinions on Serving and Ensuring High-Level Opening UpIssued 25 September (关于推进国际商事法庭高质量发展
服务保障高水平对外开放的意见
) link is to text & press release
Policy document

Also known as a “judicial document” ( 司法文件) or “judicial normative

document” (司法规范性文件), “judicial

policy document” or “judicial regulatory documents” 司法政策性文件).

Not yet aware of analysis in English, see quasi-official analysis on the WeChat public account of the SPC’s #4 Civil Division. My own analysis is forthcoming. Provisions include promoting the use of international commercial courts; standardizing translations; further provisions on parallel proceedings; etc.  China Daily report here
Notice on Issuing Matters Concerning the Jurisdiction of First-Instance Civil and Administrative Intellectual Property Cases by Basic-Level People’s Courts 最高人民法院
关于印发基层人民法院管辖第一审知识产权民事、行政案件有关事项的通知
In effect from 1 October
Judicial normative document Not yet aware of analysis in English; the notice designates courts to hear civil and administrative intellectual property cases in the first instance

2.  Typical (典型 example, exemplary, model) cases

For an explanation of typical (model, exemplary, example) cases, see these posts.

Title Type Analysis
Ninth Batch of Cases on the Construction of People’s Tribunals in the New Era (2)新时代人民法庭建设案例(九) Typical cases Subtitle is “Building Fengqiao-style People’s Courts and Strengthening the Guidance of Professional and Industry-Specific Mediation Functions”—related to resolving enterprise-related and labor-related disputes [providing insights into SPC policies on the role of the local courts]
The Supreme People’s Court and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued typical cases on standardizing enterprise-related law enforcement, judicial administrative reconsideration, and administrative litigation最高人民法院、司法部联合发布规范涉企执法司法行政复议、行政诉讼典型案例 Typical cases Cases have multiple targets: promoting the  “Private Economy Promotion Law”, special actions to standardize administrative law enforcement and judicial work involving enterprises, administrative reconsideration and administrative litigation in serving high quality economic and social development
Fifth batch of typical cases involving the construction of the “Belt and Road”第五批涉“一带一路”建设典型案例 Typical cases See my earlier comments on Belt & Road typical cases; SPC states its hope that the cases not only provide exemplary guidance for the Chinese courts, but also provide regulatory guidance for the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative with the wisdom of Chinese judicial practice, injecting new legal momentum into promoting a fairer, more open, and more inclusive new international economic order; my own commentary forthcoming

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I’m focusing on preparing a long article for publication and several other long writing projects, therefore this abbreviated post.