Chapter I General Principles

Article 1 This Law is enacted with a view to safeguarding the rights to litigation of the parties to maritime cases and ensuring that the people's courts shall ascertain the facts, establish the liabilities, properly apply the laws and promptly hear and determine maritime cases.

Article 2 The Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China and this Law shall be applicable to maritime actions brought in the People's Republic of China. Where the provisions of this Law are applicable, they shall prevail.

Article 3 Where any provisions concerning foreign-related maritime actions contained in international conventions entered into or acceded to by the People's Republic of China are different from those contained in the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China and in this Law, the provisions of such international conventions shall apply, except those on which the People's Republic of China has announced reservation.

Article 4 The maritime courts shall entertain actions brought by the parties in respect of maritime tort, disputes over maritime contracts and other maritime disputes as provided for by law.

Article 5 In hearing and determining maritime cases, the maritime courts, the higher people's courts of the places where such maritime courts are located and the Supreme People's Court shall apply this Law.

Chapter II Jurisdiction

Article 6 The relevant provisions of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China shall apply to territorial jurisdiction of maritime actions.

The territorial jurisdiction of the maritime actions listed hereunder shall be determined as follows:

(1) apart from jurisdiction exercised in accordance with the provisions of Articles 29 to 31 in the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, an action brought for maritime tort may also be under the jurisdiction of the maritime court of the place where the ship's port of registry is located;

(2) apart from jurisdiction exercised in accordance with the provisions of Article 28 in the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, an action arising from a dispute over a contract for carriage by sea may also be under the jurisdiction of the maritime court of the place where the port of transshipment is located;

(3) an action arising from a charter-party dispute of a seagoing ship shall be under the jurisdiction of the maritime court of the place where the port of delivery, the port of re-delivery, the ship's port of registry and the domicile of the defendant is located;

(4) an action arising from a dispute over a protection and indemnity contract shall be under the jurisdiction of the maritime court of the place where the subject-matter of insurance is located, where the accident occurred or where the domicile of the defendant is located;

(5) an action arising from a dispute over the service contract of the crew of a sea-going ship shall be under the jurisdiction of the maritime court of the place where the domicile of the plaintiff is located, where the contract is signed, where the port of embarkation or disembarkation of the ship's crew is located, or where the domicile of the defendant is located;

(6) an action arising from a dispute over maritime security shall be under the jurisdiction of the maritime court of the place where collateral is located or where the domicile of the defendant is located; an action arising from a dispute over ship mortgage may also be under the jurisdiction of the maritime court of the place where the ship's port of registry is located;

(7) an action arising from a dispute over the ownership, possession, employment and maritime lien of a sea-going ship shall be under the jurisdiction of the maritime court of the place where the ship is located, where the ship's port of registry is located, or where the domicile of the defendant is located.

Article 7 The following maritime actions shall be under the exclusive jurisdiction of maritime courts specified in this Article respectively:

(1) an action arising from a dispute over coastal port operation shall be under the jurisdiction of the maritime court of the place where the port is located;

(2) an action brought against pollution damage to sea areas caused by discharge, spill or dumping of oil or other hazardous substances from ships, by production or operation at sea or by ship demolition or repair shall be under the jurisdiction of the maritime courts of the place where the pollution occurred, the place that is suffering from the harmful consequences or the place where pollution prevention measures were taken; and

(3) an action arising from a dispute over an offshore exploration and exploitation contract performed within the territory of the People's Republic of China or in the sea area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China shall be under the jurisdiction of the maritime court of the place where the contract is being performed .

Article 8 Where all the parties to a maritime dispute are aliens, stateless persons, foreign enterprises or organizations and have agreed in writing to be subject to the jurisdiction of a maritime court of the People's Republic of China, notwithstanding that the place that is actually related to the dispute is not within the territory of the People's Republic of China, the said maritime court of the People's Republic of China shall have jurisdiction of the dispute.

Article 9 Any party who wishes to apply for a positive decision that certain property at sea is ownerless shall file an application with the maritime court of the place where the said property is located; anyone who wishes to apply for a declaration that a person is dead in an accident at sea shall file an application with the maritime court of the place where the competent authority dealing with the accident is located or with the maritime court that entertains the relevant maritime case.

Article 10 Any controversy that arises between a maritime court and a local people's court over jurisdiction shall be resolved by the two courts through consultation; if consultation fails, the matter shall be submitted to their common superior people's court for designation of jurisdiction.

Article 11 Any party who wishes to apply for the enforcement of a maritime arbitration award, the recognition and enforcement of a judgment or order of a foreign court or a foreign maritime arbitration award shall file an application with the maritime court of the place where the property against which enforcement is sought or the domicile of the person against whom enforcement is sought is located. In the absence of a maritime court at the said place, the application shall be filed with the intermediate people's court of the place where the property against which enforcement is sought or the domicile of the person against whom enforcement is sought is located.