On 18 December 2025, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) issued a bilingual report on maritime litigation. (The first link is to the webpage on the SPC’s official website from which the report can be downloaded by scanning a QR code. The second link is to a copy of the report downloadable from my website). The report provides insights for those interested in the latest developments concerning the multiple goals of the Chinese maritime courts.

Excerpts from the press release (in machine translation):

From 2022 to 2024, the three levels of maritime courts nationwide accepted 98,726 maritime cases of various types and concluded 97,140 cases. Among these, 71,705 were maritime and commercial cases, with 70,759 concluded; 5,477 were maritime administrative cases, with 5,482 concluded; 21,359 were maritime enforcement cases, with 20,706 concluded; and 185 were maritime criminal cases, with 193 concluded. Of these, 6,823 cases involved foreign parties, and 6,071 were concluded; 1,226 cases involved Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, and 1,134 were concluded. The cases involved 143 countries and regions. Over the three years, the eleven maritime courts seized 2,592 vessels, including 49 foreign vessels and 6 vessels registered in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan; and auctioned 1,376 vessels, including 13 foreign vessels and 2 vessels registered in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.

…[.W]e will promote the modernization of maritime trials and create a preferred location for resolving international maritime disputes. We will improve the domestic maritime rules system and cooperate with the legislative body [NPC and its Standing Committee] to revise laws and regulations such as the Maritime Law. From 2022 to 2024, we released 33 typical maritime cases and 7 special guiding cases on maritime trials, and added 138 maritime cases to the People’s Court case database [人民法院案例库]. We actively participated in the formulation of international rules; the Beijing Convention on Judicial Sale of Ships was successfully signed, and the Convention on Transferable Documents of Goods is progressing in an orderly manner. We will improve the “one-stop” diversified dispute resolution mechanism for foreign-related maritime disputes, effectively enhancing the attractiveness of international maritime dispute resolution. We will strengthen the goal-oriented approach of substantively resolving conflicts and disputes, and adhere to the principles of “as if I were in litigation” and “settling disputes.” We will improve institutional mechanisms, strengthen talent training, and comprehensively improve the quality and efficiency of trials.

These excerpts illustrate some of the themes in my 2024 article, posts on this blog, and my presentations on the SPC and foreign-related rule of law:

• the policy goal of making China a preferred location for resolving international [maritime] disputes;
• the primarily domestic caseload of the maritime courts;
• the SPC working closely with the National People’s Congress (SPC) in foreign-related rule of law-related areas;
• although much is made of guiding cases in the academic world, it is apparent that the SPC uses typical cases and Case Database cases as preferred guidance tools;
• the focus on substantively resolving disputes;
• the SPC participating directly (or indirectly) in the drafting of international rules;
• further developments related to the maritime courts hearing criminal cases (as highlighted in SPC documents from 2016);
• although my article was finalized before sanctions-related cases became a focus of the foreign-related work of the Chinese courts, note that the report mentions several sanctions-related cases.

Some have asked about the status of reports such as this. My understanding is that this report is an official statement of the SPC, reflecting its current policies. It must have been internally approved at a senior level, but as a report, it has no legal effect.