Enforcing a Hong Kong Judgment in Mainland China: The 2024 Route and Its Two-Year Clock
Applies in Hong Kong SAR · Mainland China
Direct answer: Since 29 January 2024, a civil or commercial judgment of a Hong Kong court, including the Small Claims Tribunal and the Labour Tribunal, can be recognised and enforced in Mainland China under the 2019 Arrangement, which Hong Kong implemented through the Cap. 645 ordinance. You get a certified copy and a certificate from the court that gave the judgment for HK$125, have them translated into Chinese, and apply to the Intermediate People's Court where you live, where the debtor lives, or where the debtor's property is. Under Mainland law you have two years from the last day set for payment. The route runs the other way too: a Mainland judgment is registered in Hong Kong's Court of First Instance for HK$1,045. It does not reach judgments given before 29 January 2024, and it excludes insolvency, succession, most family matters and some patent cases.
What changed on 29 January 2024?
Before that date, a Hong Kong money judgment reached the Mainland only in a narrow case. The 2006 Choice of Court Arrangement, which the Mainland Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 597) brought into force in Hong Kong on 1 August 2008, covered money judgments in business-to-business contracts where the parties had agreed in writing that one side's courts would have sole jurisdiction. A consumer claim, a tort claim, or a contract with no exclusive clause fell outside it.
The Supreme People's Court and the Hong Kong Government signed a wider arrangement on 18 January 2019. It took effect on 29 January 2024, through the Mainland Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 645) in Hong Kong and the Supreme People's Court's judicial interpretation Fa Shi [2024] No. 2 in the Mainland. It covers civil and commercial judgments generally, monetary and non-monetary relief alike, and civil damages awarded in criminal cases.
| 2006 arrangement (Cap. 597) | 2019 Arrangement (Cap. 645) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it enforces | Money judgments only | Money and non-money relief |
| Clause needed? | Yes: a written clause giving one side's courts sole jurisdiction | No: the original court's jurisdiction is tested against Article 11 |
| Which disputes | Business-to-business contracts | Civil and commercial matters generally |
| Which judgments | Those under clauses signed before 29 January 2024 | Those given on or after 29 January 2024 |
Cap. 597 still governs a written choice-of-court agreement made before 29 January 2024 (Arrangement, Article 30; Cap. 645, section 5(1)(j)).
Which Hong Kong judgments qualify?
Section 4 of Cap. 645 and Article 4 of the Arrangement set four tests. The judgment must be given in civil proceedings, which excludes judicial review and anything else arising directly from an administrative power, or be an order for compensation or damages made in criminal proceedings. It must be given on or after 29 January 2024. It must be effective, which means enforceable in Hong Kong. And it must come from one of eight courts:
- The Court of Final Appeal, the Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance
- The District Court
- The Competition Tribunal and the Lands Tribunal
- The Labour Tribunal and the Small Claims Tribunal
"Judgment" is read widely. On the Hong Kong side it includes an order, a decree and an allocatur, the certificate stating the amount of assessed costs, but not an anti-suit injunction or an order for interim relief. On the Mainland side it includes rulings, conciliatory statements, which are court-issued settlement papers, and orders of payment, but not a ruling on preservation measures.
The two tribunals on the list matter most to individuals and small businesses. An award from the Small Claims Tribunal or the Labour Tribunal can travel on its own; it does not have to pass through a higher court first.
What does the new route not cover?
Article 3 of the Arrangement lists the matters it does not yet apply to, and sections 5 to 7 of Cap. 645 reproduce the list as "excluded judgments". Inside a judgment that is covered, some sums are still cut out: taxes, fines and penalties are never enforced, and punitive or exemplary damages only in intellectual property infringement and unfair competition cases (Articles 16 to 18).
| Category | What is excluded |
|---|---|
| Family | Mainland: support of parents or grandparents, support between siblings, ending an adoption, adult guardianship, damages after divorce, division of property between cohabitants. Hong Kong: judicial separation. |
| Succession | Succession to an estate, or its administration or distribution |
| Patents and other IP | Infringement of Mainland invention and utility-model patents or Hong Kong standard and short-term patents; standard-essential patent licence rates; IP rights outside the Arrangement's definition |
| Maritime | Marine pollution, limitation of liability, general average, emergency towage and salvage, maritime liens, carriage of passengers by sea |
| Insolvency | Bankruptcy, and the winding up, reorganisation or compromise of a company |
| Personal status | Voter qualification, declarations of disappearance or death, legal capacity |
| Arbitration | Confirming an arbitration agreement or setting aside an award |
| Third-country rulings | Recognition or enforcement of judgments or awards from other countries or regions |
Arrangement, Article 3; Cap. 645, sections 5 to 7. The Department of Justice points most matrimonial and family judgments to the separate 2017 arrangement (Cap. 639), and insolvency to the 2021 record of meeting on bankruptcy proceedings.
How do you take a Hong Kong judgment to the Mainland?
The Hong Kong half is short and fixed by Cap. 645 and its rules, Cap. 645A. The Mainland half follows Mainland procedure, because Article 10 of the Arrangement leaves time limits, procedure and form to the law of the place where you apply.
From a Hong Kong judgment to a Mainland court
- Wait until the judgment is effective and not stayed. Section 33(3) of Cap. 645 bars the application while execution is stayed, whether pending an appeal or for any other reason.
- Apply for a certified copy and a certificate, without notice to the debtor, on affidavit, with a HK$125 fee (Cap. 645A, Schedule, item 2). The Registrar of the District Court handles judgments of the District Court, Lands Tribunal, Labour Tribunal and Small Claims Tribunal; the Registrar of the High Court handles the Court of Appeal, Court of First Instance and Competition Tribunal (Cap. 645A, rule 20).
- Your affidavit states the payment date, the amount still unpaid, whether anyone objected to the court's jurisdiction, any enforcement already taken, that there is no stay, whether the appeal period has expired or an appeal was filed, and the interest rate (rule 21).
- The court issues a sealed copy and a certificate that the judgment is effective, with the document that started the case and any reasoned judgment attached (rules 22 and 23).
- Translate and certify. Any document not in Chinese needs an accurate Chinese translation, and identity documents created outside the Mainland must go through the Mainland's certification formalities (Arrangement, Article 8).
- File at an Intermediate People's Court with the application, sealed copy, certificate, proof of summons if the judgment was given in default, and identity documents. The application must describe the debtor's property and where it is, and say whether enforcement has been sought elsewhere (Articles 8 and 9).
Which Intermediate People's Court? Article 7 gives three choices: where the applicant lives, where the respondent lives, or where the respondent's property is. You may file in only one of them; if you file in two, the court that registers the case first takes it. For a Hong Kong creditor the property test is usually the one that matters, because it puts the application in the city where the money is.
The Mainland court may order preservation of the debtor's property before or after accepting the application (Article 24), which is the step that stops assets moving while the court decides. A debtor with assets on both sides of the border can be pursued in both places at once, but the total recovered may not exceed the judgment (Article 21). A party dissatisfied with the Mainland ruling may apply to the next higher court for review within 10 days of service (Article 26).
How long do you have to apply?
Neither clock waits for you to find the debtor's assets. A judgment that orders payment by a stated date starts the Mainland clock on that date, not on the day you learn the debtor has moved across the border. Getting the certified copy, translating it and preparing identity documents all take time, so treat the working deadline as earlier than the legal one.
Can the debtor block recognition?
Only on listed grounds, and the debtor has to bring the evidence. Under Article 12 the court must refuse if the debtor proves one of these:
- The original court lacked jurisdiction under Article 11, for example because the defendant neither lived nor had a branch there, the contract was not to be performed there, and there was no written agreement choosing that court
- The debtor was not lawfully summoned, or was summoned but not given a reasonable chance to present a defence
- The judgment was obtained by fraud
- A court in the place of enforcement accepted a case on the same dispute first, or has already given or recognised a judgment or arbitral award on it
- Recognition would be manifestly contrary to the basic principles of Mainland law or to its social and public interests
The court may also refuse where the original proceedings breached a valid arbitration agreement or jurisdiction agreement between the parties (Article 13). It may recognise part of a judgment when it cannot recognise all of it (Article 19), and while a Hong Kong appeal is pending it may suspend the application until the appeal is decided (Article 20).
The practical lesson concerns default judgments. If the debtor never appeared in Hong Kong, the Mainland court will look for proof of proper service, so keep the affidavit of service from the original case.
Going the other way: a Mainland judgment in Hong Kong
A creditor holding a Mainland judgment against someone with assets in Hong Kong registers it in the Court of First Instance. Section 31 of Cap. 645 closes the old alternative: for a Mainland judgment given on or after 29 January 2024 that is effective, a Hong Kong court will not hear a claim to recover the money except through registration.
From a Mainland judgment to Hong Kong's Court of First Instance
- Check that it is effective: a Supreme People's Court judgment, a second-instance judgment, or a first-instance judgment that cannot be appealed or whose appeal period has run out with no appeal filed (section 8).
- Apply without notice by originating summons (Form No. 11) with the HK$1,045 fee, supported by an affidavit exhibiting a sealed copy of the judgment and the original court's certificate that it is civil or commercial and effective (Cap. 645A, rules 4 and 5, and Schedule, item 1).
- Complete the affidavit with the debtor's property, the payment date, the unpaid amount, interest and certified costs under Mainland law, and proof of summons if the defendant was absent (rules 6 to 11). The court may order you to give security for costs (rule 13).
- Serve the notice of registration on each person it may be enforced against, personally or by registered post (section 13(3)(b); rule 16).
- Wait out the setting-aside window: 14 days after service unless the court sets another period (section 21). No enforcement until that period has passed or any application has been finally decided (section 27).
- Enforce it as a Court of First Instance judgment, treated as given on the day of registration (section 26).
A sum in renminbi is registered as its Hong Kong dollar equivalent at the exchange rate on the day of registration (section 19). Registration also covers Mainland interest up to that day, costs certified by the Mainland court, charges between the parties for late compliance, and the reasonable costs of registering. It never covers taxes or fines, and covers punitive damages only in intellectual property and unfair competition cases (section 18).
Is it worth doing for a small debt?
The Hong Kong fees are small: HK$125 for the certified copy and certificate, and HK$1,045 to register a Mainland judgment. What decides the question is the Mainland side. Article 27 leaves the application fee to Mainland fee rules, and neither Cap. 645 nor the Arrangement states it, so ask the Intermediate People's Court before you start. Add translation and certification of documents, and the Mainland lawyers the Department of Justice recommends consulting.
Three questions settle it. Does the debtor have identifiable assets, such as a bank account, a salary or property, in a specific Mainland city? Is the judgment inside the scope and the time limit? And is the amount large enough to absorb translation and local representation? If the answer to the first is no, a recognition ruling is a piece of paper: the application itself has to tell the court where the property is.
A checklist before you file
Before you apply
- Check the date of the judgment is on or after 29 January 2024, and diarise two years from the last day set for payment.
- Check the court is one of the eight, and the subject is not on the excluded list.
- Map the debtor's assets by city, because that picks the Intermediate People's Court.
- Keep proof of service from the Hong Kong case, above all if the debtor did not appear.
- Apply for the certified copy and certificate as soon as any stay has ended.
- Budget for translation of the judgment, the certificate and its attachments into Chinese.
- Ask for preservation when you file, if the debtor could move the money.
A judgment is worth what it can reach. Before you sue in Hong Kong a debtor whose assets are in the Mainland, test the case as a judge would, and check that the judgment you are aiming for will be one the Mainland court can recognise.
Sources: Mainland Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 645), ss 2–34, Mainland Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Reciprocal Enforcement) Rules (Cap. 645A), rules 4–27 and Schedule (fees), Department of Justice — Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (2019), courtesy English translation (PDF), Supreme People's Court — 法释〔2024〕2号, the Arrangement as a judicial interpretation, in force 29 January 2024, Gazette of the Supreme People's Court — Civil Procedure Law of the PRC (2023 amendment), Art 250, Department of Justice — Cap. 645 leaflet, December 2023 (PDF), Department of Justice — Reciprocal recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial judgments (Cap. 597 and the 2006 arrangement). Every date, fee, time limit and ground above was read in September 2026 from Cap. 645 and Cap. 645A on Hong Kong e-Legislation, the Department of Justice's courtesy English translation of the Arrangement and its Cap. 645 leaflet, the Supreme People's Court's publication of Fa Shi [2024] No. 2, and Article 250 of the Civil Procedure Law as published in the Gazette of the Supreme People's Court. No official statistics on applications under the Arrangement had been published when this was written. This is general information, not legal advice.