Practical Guide: How Court Documents Are Served in China?

(1)I am living abroad and never received any court papers from a Chinese court, but the court claims to have effected “service by public notice.” Is this legal? Are there any remedies available to me?

(2)My company has a representative office in China. Can the Chinese court directly serve litigation documents to employees at the representative office?

(3)I received an email or a courier package from a Chinese court. Is such service valid? Do I have to respond?

(4)I once lived in China  for a short period of time, but have since left. Can the court serve documents to my former address in China?

(5)I have always resided overseas but do business with Chinese companies. Litigation may arise in China soon—what proactive steps can I take to ensure court documents are served to me accurately?

A. Service in Accordance with 

     International Treaties

If the recipient’s country has entered into or jointly acceded to an international treaty with China, service shall be effected in accordance with the provisions of such treaty. For example:

• If China and the recipient’s country have entered into a judicial assistance agreement, service may be effected in accordance with that agreement;

• If the country is a contracting state to the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (the “Hague Service Convention”), service may be effected under the Convention.

  
  

Service of judicial documents effected  pursuant to international treaties must comply with the Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on Requests for Judicial Assistance in the Service and Taking of Evidence in Civil and Commercial Matters under International Conventions and Bilateral Judicial Assistance Treaties.

B. Service Through Diplomatic 

    Channels

If no applicable international treaty exists between China and the recipient’s country, service shall be effected through diplomatic channels.

Where service is attempted pursuant to a judicial assistance agreement, the Hague Service Convention, or diplomatic channels, and no certificate confirming service or non-service is received within six months from the date on which the relevant documents were transmitted by the competent Chinese authority to the authority of the recipient’s country—and the circumstances are insufficient to deem service completed—such method shall be deemed ineffective.

C. Service via Chinese Diplomatic 

    Missions Abroad

For recipients who are Chinese nationals, the Chinese court may entrust Chinese embassies or consulates in the recipient’s country to serve the documents.

D. Service on Appointed 

    Litigation Agents

Where the recipient has appointed a litigation representative in the case and has not explicitly excluded the representative’s authority to receive service in the power of attorney, the court may serve documents directly on the agent.

Accordingly, if the recipient has engaged a Chinese lawyer as litigation counsel, the court will consider the lawyer as an authorized recipient for service, and the party itself need not be served personally.

E. Service on Related Entities 

    within China

• Service may be effected on the wholly foreign-owned enterprise, representative office, branch, or business agent authorized to accept service, that has been established by the recipient within China;

• Where the recipient is a foreign national or a stateless person, and serves as the legal representative or principal officer of a legal person or other organization established in China, and such legal person or other organization is a co-defendant in the case, service shall be effected on that legal person or organization;

• Where the recipient is a foreign legal person or other organization, and its legal representative or principal officer is located within the territory of the PRC, service shall be effected on such legal representative or principal officer;

  
  

Therefore, in Scenario 2 above, the court may deem the representative office to constitute  a related entity within China, and effect service accordingly.

F. Service by Mail

Where the laws of the recipient’s country permit service by mail, such method may be adopted:

• If three months have passed since the date of mailing and the return receipt has not been returned, but the circumstances are sufficient to determine that service has been effected, the date of expiry of the three-month period shall be deemed the date of service;

• A return receipt shall be attached when serving by mail. If the recipient does not sign the return receipt but does sign the postal delivery receipt, the service shall be deemed effected, and the date of that signature shall be the date of service;

• If the judicial documents are returned after being mailed, with reasons such as “no such person at this address” or “no one residing at this address” indicated, or if three months have passed since the date of mailing and no confirmation of service has been received, and the circumstances are insufficient to deem service completed, it shall be considered that service by mail has failed;

Therefore, if a foreign individual once temporarily resided in China and has since left, they should promptly cancel any relevant residence registration and identification documents. This is particularly important in situations where legal proceedings have already been initiated. If the individual fails to update their address with the court or designate an agent for service, the court may mail judicial documents to their former residence in China. If the mail is not returned and there are reasonable grounds to presume that it was received, such service may be deemed valid.

G. Service by Electronic Means

The electronic service is permissible only where the recipient’s receipt can be confirmed, and the method does not violate the laws of the recipient’s country or applicable international treaties.

Where the recipient’s country is a member of the Hague Service Convention and has declared opposition to service by postal channels under the Convention, it shall be presumed that electronic service is not permitted, and the people’s court may not adopt electronic service.

Therefore, if the law of the recipient’s country permits such method of service, and the recipient acknowledges receipt by signing for a courier or confirming via email, the service shall have legal effect and the party shall respond in accordance with the law.

H. Other Agreed Methods

Service may also be effected by other methods agreed upon by the recipient, unless such methods are prohibited by the laws of the recipient’s country.

I. Service by Public Notice

• Where all the aforementioned methods fail, the court may, in accordance with the law, adopt service by public notice: sixty days after the publication of the notice, service shall be deemed completed. If public notice is used without exhausting the above methods, the service may be deemed invalid.

• When service by public notice is adopted, the content of the notice shall be published in publicly circulated newspapers or periodicals in China or abroad.

• Where litigation documents are served by public notice and the recipient fails to respond upon expiration of the notice period, the people’s court shall render a default judgment, and the judgment shall also be served by public notice in accordance with the Civil Procedure Law. If no appeal is filed within thirty days after a period of three months from the date of service of the judgment by public notice, the first-instance judgment shall become legally effective.

  
  

Therefore, if the court has exhausted all other methods of service, service by public notice may be deemed effective. Upon learning of such circumstances, the individual should promptly contact the court to explain their situation, seek timely legal advice, and take appropriate remedial actions without delay.