Hangzhou Int’l Commercial Court Hears Its First Case, Involving Procurement of Test Kits

On 16 Mar. 2023, the Hangzhou International Commercial Court heard its first case and made a judgment in court.

On the morning of 15 Mar. 2023, the Hangzhou International Commercial Court was officially established. This is the ninth international commercial court in China and the first one in Zhejiang Province.

In addition to the China International Commercial Court (CICC) under China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC), other local courts in China are also keen to establish international commercial courts, so as to gather the most experienced local judges engaged in international commercial disputes and hear international commercial cases in specific regions in such courts.

The first case before the Hangzhou International Commercial Court, described earlier, involved the procurement of test kits by a German company from a Chinese company during the COVID-19 epidemic. The Court rendered a judgment based on the “United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods”, requiring the Chinese company to refund the German company the purchase price of EUR 1,203,400 with corresponding interest.

Cover Photo by Jerry Zhang on Unsplash