CHINA MARITIME LAW NEWSLETTER
Vol. 1, No.7 - November 5, 2001
TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- China and WTO: China Accelerates Maritime Legislation and Aims for Judicial Renovation
- WTO to Boost the Ship Building Industry
- New Law on the Management of Maritime Space
- China Shipping to Sell Two Oil Tankers to Parent Associate for RMB 10.77 Million
- Singapore Enterprise Enters China's Ship Repairing Market
- China and Japan Agree on Full Bilateral Maritime Cooperation
China and WTO: China Accelerates Maritime Legislation and Aims for Judicial Renovation
China's accession to the WTO requires many reforms, particularly in the legal sector.
In order to make good preparations for the WTO entrance, Chinese Maritime Courts are now dedicated to reforming the maritime trial system relating to foreign maritime affairs. An important aspect of that is the need for increased judicial transparency. In order to enhance it, it has been decided that courts will make public judicial results related to maritime and commercial disputes between Chinese and foreigners. These changes are in line with the efforts to improve the foreign investment environment in China and are a natural cause of the pending WTO accession. Also, the changes come at a good time since with the larger international cooperation it is likely that there will be an increased number of maritime and commercial disputes in China.
More specifically, the reform measures include:
- In China there are 10 special maritime courts and a number of intermediate courts that are capable of trying maritime cases. The intermediate maritime courts in capital cities and special economic zones shall centralize the trial power to govern maritime cases and shall also apply strict jurisdiction policy over maritime cases.
- The maritime courts shall authenticate and notarize some related evidence, especially evidence from abroad.
- To gradually apply an evidence-exchange policy before the trial committee and to apply the policy of reporting evidence within a time limit.
- To demand the appearance of witnesses, appraisers, auditors and other experts in the courts when they ought to attest.
- To establish an official maritime website to publish awards in order to enhance judicial transparency.
- To hold more training classes to help the judges learn more international treaties and practices.
- To oversee all judicial interpretations that are not in conformity with the rules of WTO. At the same time, regulate and replace them with new laws and regulations.
(Source: BBC Worldwide Monitoring, Sohu.com)
WTO to Boost the Ship Building Industry
The pending Chinese WTO accession is expected to have positive repercussions on the ship building industry, not only in China but also worldwide. China presents great investment opportunities, and WTO accession will only serve to enhance them. Therefore it is expected that foreign trade and investment will increase, which in turn will be advantageous for the shipping industry.
Even though the advantages for the shipping industry will be many with a WTO entry, disadvantages will present themselves. Labor costs being much lower in China than in many other countries may bring about accusations concerning dumping of ships into markets where the industry is more advanced but labor is expensive. Another issue that may arise is that, with the increased competition, foreign shipbuilding companies may not be willing anymore to issue production certificates to Chinese enterprises, since post WTO entry foreign enterprises will be able to set up plants directly in China. To withstand this competition, Chinese companies will need to cooperate with their foreign counterparts or extend the periods for production certificates.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)
New Law on the Management of Maritime Space
The Law of P.R.C. Management of Maritime Space has been adopted by the 24th Meeting of the Standing Committee of China's Ninth National People's Congress, the country's top legislative body, on October 27, 2001 and will be effective from January 1, 2002.
The law applies the pay-as-you-use system, which means that all users should pay the country, the sole owner of the nation's 380,000 square kilometers territorial sea, for any form of utilization of sea areas. Individuals and organizations should apply to local governments or the State Council to get a certificate for the use of sea areas.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency)
China Shipping to Sell Two Oil Tankers to Parent Associate for RMB 10.77 Million
China Shipping Development Co., Ltd said it has agreed to sell two oil tankers to Shanghai Shipping (Group)- Digang Dili Material Recovery Co. The price of the transaction is a total of RMB 10.77 million.
Shanghai Shipping Group is wholly owned by the China Shipping Group and Digang Dili Material Recovery Co. is in turn wholly owned by Shanghai Shipping.
China Shipping Development said the two oil tankers-"Daqing 27" and "Da Qing 28" are to be sold for RMB 5.38 million and RMB 5.39 million respectively.
The two oil tankers will be dismantled by Dili Material and will be sold as scrap metal after the transaction.
(Source: Afxnews.com)
Singapore Enterprise Enters China's Ship Repairing Market
The China Ocean Shipping Company's affiliate, COSCO Investment Ltd., in Singapore will enter the Chinese shipping repair market. This is done through Cosco Investments Ltd. acquisition of 50% of the interest in Nantong Ocean Ship Engineering Co. (NOSEC). NOSEC is one of the largest ship repairing companies in China.
Before this deal, which will come into effect at the end of the year, NOSEC was owned 50% by Cosco Shipyard Co., 25% by Cosco Industrial Investments, and 25% by Masahiro Trading Ltd. Ownership will now be equally split between Cosco Investments in Singapore and Cosco Shipyard Group. The NOSEC deal is a step by Singapore to develop a long-term strategy in the ship repair industry with the PRC.
(Source: Asia Pulse)
China and Japan Agree on Full Bilateral Maritime Cooperation
China's and Japan's maritime affairs chiefs held talks in Tokyo on October 29, 2001 and agreed to strengthen cooperation in investigations of transnational sea crimes such as piracy.
Katsuhiko Nawano, head of the Japan Coast Guard, and Zhao Yongji, China's vice public security minister, signed an agreement to launch full-scale joint operations to combat crime. The two countries agreed to share information related to regulations against sea crimes and to hold regular conferences once a year.
The Japan Coast Guard has forged ties with various nations, including a number of Asian countries and Russia in an effort to strengthen countermeasures against international crimes such as smuggling.
The latest talks were arranged as a result of a summit between Koizumi and Chinese President Jiang Zemin on October 8, which was aimed at mending the two nation's strained ties.
(Source: Tokyo News Agency)
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