60 Asian Legal Business | December 2024 Commercial Disputes Enforcement Mechanism: Obtaining Reliefs across Multiple Jurisdictions Enforcement mechanisms are particularly complicated in a multi-jurisdiction context. Different jurisdictions have distinct legal systems, principles of law and enforcement rules, leading to legal conflicts and uncertainties in the enforcement process. This article introduces the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards and court judgments in the People’s Republic of China (“China”), analyzes the interaction among domestic law, foreign law and international law, and proposes suggestions for facilitating cross-border enforcement. I. Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards Arbitration is a method of dispute resolution, where parties voluntarily submit their disputes to an independent arbitral tribunal for adjudication in accordance with an arbitration agreement. Thanks to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (also known as New York Convention), arbitration has become a mainstream way to resolve cross-border disputes. Since the contracting parties to New York Convention cover most countries and regions, foreign arbitral awards are recognized and enforced in China mainly relying on New York Convention.1 Chinese courts once reviewed foreign arbitral awards by reference to the legislative notions of Chinese Arbitration Law, such as determining the nationality of an award based on the 1 At the 18th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on December 2, 1986, it was decided that the People's Republic of China should accede to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards and declared at the same time that: (1) the People's Republic of China should apply the Convention only on the basis of reciprocity to the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards made within the territory of another contracting country; and (2)the People's Republic of China only applies this convention to disputes arising from commercial legal relationships that are deemed contractual or non-contractual under the laws of the People's Republic of China. location of the arbitration institution that made the award2, and applying Chinese Arbitration Law to deny the validity of an ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) arbitration clause3. With the adoption and deepening of the concept of "facilitating awards enforcement", Chinese courts actively follow the evolution trend of international commercial arbitration and fill the gaps in domestic arbitration legislation. More and more foreign awards have been recognized and enforced in China. According to the Annual Report on Judicial Review of Commercial Arbitration by the Supreme People's Court (2023), Chinese courts recognized and enforced 69 foreign awards during the year of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 16.9%, and the arbitration-friendly judicial environment is highly appreciated. In practice, recognition and enforcement of foreign awards still confront some challenges. For example, the importance of preservation measures is self-evident as it can prevent the respondent from dissipating assets to evade an unfavorable award. However, as for foreign arbitration proceedings, only in those seated in Hong Kong or Macau can parties apply to mainland courts for preservation measures. Besides, parties to foreign-seated arbitrations often apply to the arbitral tribunal to issue interim measures, requiring the respondent to perform or refrain from specific actions. At present, there are no relevant legislation and judicial practice on whether such interim measures can be recognized and enforced in China. 2 In 2004, the Supreme People's Court replied to the Shanxi Provincial High People's Court regarding the application of the parties to recognize and enforce the arbitral award made by the International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Court in Hong Kong, stating that the International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Court is a French arbitration institution so that such award shall be made in France. 3 Reply of the Supreme People's Court to the Request for Confirmation of the Validity of the Arbitration Agreement between Zublin International GmbH and Wuxi Woke General Engineering Rubber Co., Ltd. [(2003) Min Si Ta Zi No. 23]. 强制执行机制：在多司法辖区环境中 获得救济
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