Let’s see how the Shanghai Court and Procuratorate uses justice to safeguard the development of the free trade zone. From 2010 to 2018, there were approximately 200,000 cases.
In September 2013, the China Free Trade Pilot Zone was officially put into operation. Ten years have passed, and today's Shanghai Free Trade Zone is flourishing: by the end of 2022, a total of 84,000 new companies will be established, 2.35 times the number in the same area in the previous 20 years. A total of more than 14,000 new foreign investment projects have been established, with a total of US$58.6 billion in actual foreign investment.
The achievement is inseparable from the efforts of all parties. Recently, many courts and procuratorates in Shanghai have successively reported on the handling of cases involving the Free Trade Zone over the past 10 years and their experience and results, providing a strong judicial guarantee for the development of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.
Data show that from November 2013 to June 2023, the Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court tried and concluded 4,367 investment-type commercial disputes involving the free trade zone, 17,264 trade-type commercial disputes, 109,522 financial and commercial disputes, and 50,578 intellectual property disputes. . From the promulgation of the relevant judicial interpretations of the Supreme People's Court on judicial review of arbitration in early 2018 to June 2023, the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court has heard and concluded a total of 4,260 arbitration judicial review disputes. In terms of criminal cases, the Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Procuratorate accepted a total of 14,694 criminal cases involving 23,209 people in the Pilot Free Trade Zone. The cases were mainly concentrated in the fields of economics, finance, and intellectual property.
Many of these cases are typical. For example, Abdul Wahid v. China Eastern Airlines Co., Ltd. Air Passenger Carriage Contract Dispute Case clarified the relationship between the contracting carrier and the actual carrier in aviation law, the scope of the carrier's obligations when a flight is delayed due to force majeure, Issues such as the interpretation of the agreement that discounted tickets cannot be endorsed are of guiding significance for standardizing the service behavior of airlines and guiding passengers to rationally safeguard their rights in accordance with the law. It was selected as a guiding case of the Supreme Court; BY.O Company v. Yushang Group Co., Ltd. Service Contract Dispute Case , is the first case in the country supporting the validity of the arbitration clause in a foreign-related "arbitration first and trial later" agreement, and was selected as a case gazette by the Supreme Court.
The case of Chen Moumou using virtual currency to launder money handled by the Pudong Procuratorate was selected into the typical cases of money laundering crimes jointly released by the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the People's Bank of China. As a successful case in China's fight against the use of virtual currency to launder money, the People's Bank of China provided it to the international anti-money laundering organization Financial Action The special working group; handled two cases in the field of private equity funds that were listed as supervision cases involving illegal fund-raising crimes by the Supreme People's Procuratorate, creating a precedent for the handling of illegal fund-raising cases by private equity funds.
New business formats mean new legal risks. Shanghai's courts and procuratorates do not stop at handling cases, but actively extend their judicial functions and help improve relevant rules and regulations.
In handling the first case of using fictitious re-export trade to evade foreign exchange and make profits, the Pudong Procuratorate found management loopholes in banks in the field of new financial financing products, so it invited the heads of the foreign exchange departments of 25 banks including the Shanghai Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Observed the court hearing, made procuratorial suggestions to relevant departments on the characteristics and problems of the case, and conducted discussions on how to strengthen risk control in the entrepot trade foreign exchange loan business after the adjustment of foreign exchange policies.
The Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court and the Pudong Court have strengthened special trials of cases involving intellectual property, finance, and corporate liquidation in the free trade zone, giving full play to the advantages of professional trial mechanisms to ensure the healthy development of market order in the free trade zone. In the field of intellectual property trials, explore the implementation of a punitive compensation system for intellectual property infringement and promote collaborative, joint and joint governance of intellectual property rights; in the field of financial trials, formulate the "Discovery Mechanism for Demonstration Cases of Group Disputes" and develop credit card dispute trial software; in bankruptcy trials, In the field of bankruptcy, the Shanghai Pudong Court established a bankruptcy tribunal in January 2022 to strengthen the linkage between the government and the court and promote bankruptcy reconciliation.
In order to optimize the collaborative supervision and governance of free trade zone risks, the two courts also developed the country's first free trade zone judicial big data statistical analysis system to provide early warning of legal risks in free trade zone supervision; they signed a "Cooperation Agreement" with the district management committee to achieve normalcy to strengthen docking and liaison; strengthen the exchange of judicial security experience at home and abroad, and summarize practical results in a timely manner.
