Courts across South China’s Hainan province have stepped up judicial services to support the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), as the island-wide special customs operations were officially launched on Dec 18.

According to the Hainan High People’s Court, courts across the province have made meticulous arrangements and advanced preparations through careful planning and coordinated implementation, in order to ensure strong judicial guarantees for the new phase of FTP development.

Over the past years, Hainan courts have actively aligned their work with the needs of high-level opening-up, strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights, improving the business environment, and providing high-quality judicial services to support the high-quality development of the Hainan FTP.

With the steady advancement of high-level opening-up, Hainan is witnessing increasingly active international commercial activities. Courts there have promptly identified this trend and are committed to building the island into a preferred venue for international commercial dispute resolution, said Dai Jun, president of the Hainan High People’s Court.

Hainan courts have fully implemented the holistic approach to national security and firmly upheld the security bottom line of the FTP. They have resolutely safeguarded national security and social stability by cracking down on crimes endangering national security, advancing the regularized campaign against organized crime, and carrying out anti-drug initiatives. 

In line with the policy of opening up at the “first line” and effectively controlling the “second line”, the courts have cracked down on smuggling-related crimes that exploit the offshore duty-free shopping policy in the Hainan FTP. They have also facilitated the reorganization of major real estate projects to defuse regional risks and strengthened judicial action against financial crimes in order to safeguard financial security.

To better support the Hainan FTP’s high-level opening-up, Hainan has established the first and second international commercial tribunals of the Hainan FTP and optimized jurisdictional arrangements. These two tribunals have concluded more than 3,000 civil and commercial cases involving parties from China’s Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as foreign parties, and accepted over 1,200 cases involving international judicial assistance.

Strengthening judicial protection of intellectual property rights has been identified as a key pillar in safeguarding the FTP’s development. As home to the Nanfan Silicon Valley, a national agricultural innovation hub for off-season crop breeding in southern China, Hainan stands at the forefront of seed industry intellectual property protection. 

The Hainan Free Trade Port Intellectual Property Court, together with its specialized tribunal in the Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City located in Sanya, has increased judicial protection in emerging sectors, including seed breeding, deep-sea development, aerospace technology, green industries, and the digital economy.

Since 2023, Hainan courts have concluded more than 16,000 intellectual property related cases, using strict practice of the rule of law to stimulate innovation across society.

A sound business environment is widely recognized as the cornerstone of Hainan FTP’s development, and the rule of law is its foundation. Since 2023, Hainan courts have adhered to a prudent and goodwill-oriented enforcement approach. Through mediation, they have helped 25,400 enterprises overcome difficulties and assisted 12,300 enterprises in credit restoration. In addition, 1,705 bankruptcy and compulsory liquidation cases have been concluded, revitalizing assets worth 32.227 billion yuan ($ 4.61 billion) and further improving the law-based business environment of the Hainan FTP.