More international maritime disputes turn to China's courts

BEIJING -- In a sign of China's growing role in global maritime dispute resolution, the country's maritime courts accepted more than 6,800 foreign-related cases from 2022 to 2024, involving parties from 143 countries and regions, the Supreme People's Court said Thursday.

Established in 1984, China's maritime court system has processed roughly 88,000 foreign-related cases over more than 40 years. More recently, foreign parties have increasingly turned to Chinese courts, even when their disputes lack a substantive link to China.

From 2022 to 2024, maritime courts nationwide handled 1,226 cases involving Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and concluded 1,134 such cases, the SPC data showed.

Over the same period, China's maritime courts handled a total of 98,726 maritime cases, including 185 maritime criminal cases. They concluded 193 maritime criminal cases during the period.