On June 17, Guangzhou Maritime Court held a press conference and released a white paper on the maritime trials in 2021, analyzing six aspects of issues including maritime administrative litigation, freight forwarding, cargo transportation as well as judicial confirmation and putting forward some suggestions.

(Photo: Guangzhou Maritime Court) 

This is the sixth time the court released a white paper in Chinese, English and Portuguese, and the twelfth time in Chinese and English bilingually.

The press conference also announced ten typical cases in 2021 to serve and protect the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area(GBA) and ten enforcement cases in 2021, aiming to promote the shipping economy and marine economy in the GBA by analyzing the Areas maritime and maritime disputes.

(Photo: Guangzhou Maritime Court) 

In 2021, the court accepted 4,092 new cases, up 43.08% year-on-year, involving a total value of more than 8 billion RMB, according to Liu Sibin, the vice president of Guangzhou Maritime Court. The number of cases received is second only to 4,795 cases in 2019, which means it had basically recovered to the level before the outbreak of COVID-19.

The proportion of litigation cases involving foreign elements increased, with 747 new civil first-instance cases involving foreign countries, as well as Chinas Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, accounting for 38.56% of the new first-instance civil cases. The number of newly received and concluded cases of first instance involving foreign elements accounted for more than one-third of the total number of accepted and closed civil cases of first instance.

Xiao Zhixiong, the vice president of the court, introduced that Guangzhou Maritime Court played an active role in a case that involved the arrest and auction of a foreign ship last year. Despite difficulties including epidemic prevention and control as well as the impact of the typhoon, the court integrated the domestic and foreign-related rule of law to dissolve the risks of abandonment of ship management by the owner and the humanitarian crisis that might otherwise arise if the crew was abandoned.

The court also signed the AIS data collaboration agreement with Southern Navigation Service Center, in a bid to provide technical support for locating and supervising vessels under arrest. Moreover, it is developing a big data intelligent appraisal system for online auction ships, which will provide free and accurate references for the parties and hence cut related costs.