[Photo/VCG]

Over the past 40 years, Chinese courts have handled a total of 88,000 foreign-related maritime cases involving parties from 146 countries and regions, according to Shen Hongyu, director of the Fourth Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), at a seminar on Friday, adding that Chinese courts have actively contributed to global ocean governance reform.

At a lecture held by the SPC on Friday, Shen said that in recent years, Chinese courts have become more proactive and influential in participating in and promoting global ocean governance reform. Maritime justice, she noted, serves as an important instrument for practicing the vision of a maritime community with a shared future and for advancing the reform of the global ocean governance system.

Chinese courts have been implementing a "maritime adjudication excellence strategy," adhering to international treaties and respecting international practices, while providing equal protection for the legitimate rights and interests of both Chinese and foreign parties. They are working to build China into a preferred destination for resolving international maritime disputes.

Shen revealed that an increasing number of foreign litigants are choosing to file lawsuits in Chinese maritime courts even when their disputes have no substantive connection with China. In one remarkable case, a foreign shipowner renamed its vessel "RESPECT" after a successful mediation in a Chinese maritime court to express appreciation for China's judiciary.

In September 2023, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships, which was opened for signature in Beijing - the first UN maritime convention named after a Chinese city. Earlier this year, in July 2025, the draft convention on negotiable cargo documents, a proposal initiated by China, was approved by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and submitted to the UN General Assembly for review. 

The initiative aims to extend China's mature practices in maritime documentation to all modes of transport, contributing a "China solution" to improving international multimodal transport rules, said Shen. 

Since 2013, Chinese courts have handled over 300,000 cases involving maritime cargo transport, marine insurance, ship collisions, and shipbuilding, as well as 27,000 inland waterway cases, effectively regulating the shipping market, fostering the shipbuilding industry, and providing strong judicial support for the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative and the stability of global industrial and supply chains, said Shen.

Judges from several Chinese courts also gave case studies on handling foreign-related maritime cases in recent years. For example, Zhang Yifang, deputy head of the Maritime Criminal Division of the Haikou Maritime Court, shared a representative case highlighting China's commitment to protecting the South China Sea's marine environment.

In the early hours of October 26, 2022, a container ship ran aground near the Yuzhuo Jiao in the Xisha Islands, causing severe damage to local coral reefs. With the foreign vessel preparing to leave Chinese waters, the court swiftly guided the plaintiff to apply for evidence preservation and vessel arrest.

After several rounds of hearings, the court accepted the technical assessments conducted by underwater investigators and ordered the foreign shipowner to pay over 14 million yuan ($1.7 million) in compensation for ecological damage. The case was hailed as a successful example of China's efforts to protect maritime  ecological environment, said Zhang.