Litigation & Enforcement in Chinese Courts

First, the honest framing

Litigation in China is professional, rules-based, and workable for foreign parties — but it is not magic. The two questions that decide everything are the same as anywhere in the world: is your claim provable, and is there money or assets to collect? If both answers are yes, a Chinese court can get you there. If the evidence is thin or the supplier is a shell with no assets, no lawyer can fix that — and I'll tell you so before you spend a dollar.

The one thing you need to know about foreign parties

Under Chinese civil procedure law, a foreign party participating in litigation in a Chinese court must be represented by a lawyer licensed to practice in China. This isn't a choice — it's the rule. It's also why the "destination lawyer" model works: when you deal with a Chinese supplier, the eventual courtroom is in China, and you need counsel who can walk in. My practice is built around exactly that scenario.

How the process runs

1. Case assessment & strategy

• Review of your documents and a straight answer on provability: what your evidence proves, what it doesn't, and what's missing.
• Jurisdiction and governing law: which Chinese court can hear the case, and whether the CISG applies automatically (it does, where both countries are contracting states and the parties haven't excluded it).
• Limitation check: the general limitation period for civil claims in China is three years (Article 188 of the Civil Code of the PRC). If yours is at risk, that changes the plan.

2. Asset preservation — before judgment

The single most under-used weapon in cross-border disputes. Chinese courts can freeze bank accounts, seize goods, or attach other assets before or during the case — provided you apply promptly and provide security. If the supplier is still trading, still has stock, or still has a bank balance, preservation is how you make sure the judgment, when it comes, has something to bite. Timing matters: the supplier's first hint of a lawsuit is often the moment assets start moving.

3. Trial

• Filing, service, evidence exchange, and hearings — handled by counsel on your behalf; you do not need to travel (though your personal testimony can be arranged when it matters).
• Evidence rules: original documents, notarization and legalization of foreign documents where required, and translation. This is where preparation pays.
• Typical timelines for commercial first-instance cases can run from several months to a year-plus depending on the court and complexity — I'll give you a realistic range for your specific case, not a promise.

4. Enforcement — winning is not the finish line

China's courts enforce judgments through the execution system (执行程序): freezing and garnishing bank accounts, seizing and auctioning assets, restricting travel and high consumption for legal representatives, and listing the company on the dishonest-debtor list (失信被执行人名单), which carries real commercial consequences. Enforcement is where my financial-litigation background comes in:

• Asset tracing — looking past the registered company at where the money actually is.
• Shareholder liability — where the company is a one-person company, its sole shareholder bears joint and several liability for company debts unless he can prove his assets are separate from the company's (Company Law of the PRC, revised 2023, Article 23, paragraph 3). This frequently turns an uncollectable judgment into a collectable one.
• Related-entity theories — where the real business operates through another entity, subject to proof and court acceptance.

What litigation realistically costs

I will give you a written cost and timeline estimate before you commit, including a worst-case number. If the economics don't make sense, I'll tell you — sometimes the right advice is not to litigate.

How to start

1. Send your documents — contract, invoices, payment records, correspondence, and a short narrative.
2. Assessment — a written view on provability, jurisdiction, limitation, preservation strategy, cost, and timeline. Fixed assessment fee, credited if we proceed.
3. Decision — you decide. If we proceed, a fixed-scope engagement letter.
4. Execution — preservation first (where it makes sense), then filing, trial, and enforcement.