China to Set Up an IP Court & a Foreign-Related Civil & Commercial Court in Hainan Province
The Supreme People's Court of China has recently approved the establishment of an intellectual property court and a court devoted to foreign-related civil and commercial litigation in Hainan province in southern China, with a view to facilitating the performance of the province's strategic role amid the country's further reform and opening up.
In April 2018 at a gathering celebrating the 30th anniversary of the founding of Hainan Province, Chinese president Xi Jinping announced the plan of converting the whole of Hainan province into a pilot free trade zone, as well as building the country's first international free trade port in the province. This was followed by the issuance of the Opinions of the Supreme People’s Court on Providing Judicial Services and Safeguards for Supporting Hainan’s Comprehensive Deepening of Reform and Opening Up in August 2018.
The two new courts, which are to hear the province's first-instance cases as related to technical IP civil and administrative litigation and foreign-related civil and commercial litigation respectively, are expected to enhance the judicial environment in Hainan for the support of the province's free trade zone/port development under the national strategic plan.
