According to an analysis published by The Jamestown Foundation, China has steadily expanded its international commercial courts and dispute-resolution infrastructure since 2018 to support cross-border commerce and foreign-related legal proceedings. These tribunals handle commercial disputes involving foreign companies in parallel with China's expanding international trade.
By 2026, the national-level China International Commercial Court (CICC) had accepted 46 cases and concluded 37 since its founding in 2018. These matters involved parties from 21 countries and regions, representing a cumulative value exceeding RMB 13.8 billion ($2 billion). Additionally, Intermediate People's Courts in 18 localities—including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Suzhou, and Chongqing—have established municipal-level CICCs, which resolved 1,777 foreign-related disputes and arbitral reviews in 2025.
Regional forums have also reported substantial caseloads. At the 6th Maritime Silk Road Legal Affairs Forum held in Xiamen on September 7–8, officials reported that local CICCs established in Xiamen and Quanzhou in 2022 have handled more than 7,000 cases involving litigants from over 40 countries and territories, with a total dispute value surpassing RMB 50 billion ($7.5 billion).
The report highlights that quantitative research into political partiality in Chinese forums yields mixed conclusions. While the courts do not demonstrate an automatic bias toward domestic parties, factors such as U.S.–China trade tensions and whether a dispute involves a joint venture with a Chinese state-owned enterprise have been found to affect case outcomes.
Sources
- Substack · 2026-10-22
