Recognition and Enforcement in Russia of Commercial Arbitrations Awards and Court Decisions of China
How to recognize and enforce awards (decicions) of commercial arbitrations and Chinese courts in Russia?

With the development of market relations between China and Russia and the growth of business activities aimed at exporting Russian goods to China and importing products from China to Russia, controversial situations arise that the parties resolve in court.
Most often, a party to a contract goes to court due to violation of delivery deadlines or delivery of low-quality goods, as well as violation of terms of payment for goods. If the parties have entered into an arbitration agreement or the text of the contract contains an arbitration clause that disputes are subject to consideration in the courts of China, then the party that appealed to the Chinese court and received a decision in its favor may need to enforce this decision in Russia. This applies to a situation where a party to a contract is located in Russia and is obliged to execute a court decision of China.
Legal regulation of bringing a Chinese arbitration award into Russia
According to the general rule of Art. 241 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, decisions of courts of foreign states, adopted by them on disputes and other cases arising in the implementation of entrepreneurial and other economic activities (foreign courts), awards of arbitration courts and international commercial arbitrations, adopted by them in the territories of foreign states on disputes and other cases arising when carrying out business and other economic activities (foreign arbitration awards), are recognized and enforced in Russia by arbitration courts, if the recognition and enforcement of such decisions is provided for by an international treaty of the Russian Federation.
An Agreement on Legal Assistance in Civil and Criminal Cases was concluded between China and Russia (Beijing, June 19, 1992), ratified by Resolution of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation dated February 26, 1993 No. 4560-1. According to Art. 21 of the specified document, the parties will mutually recognize and enforce the arbitration awards of the other party in accordance with the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards of June 10, 1958. In accordance with Art. 3 of the New York Convention in the PRC and Russia, arbitration awards of these countries are mutually recognized as binding and are enforced in accordance with the procedural rules of the territory where recognition and enforcement of these awards is sought.
What is necessary to enforce Chinese arbitration awards and court decisions in Russia?
To enforce a court decision of a Chinese court in Russia, the interested party submits an application for enforcement of the court decision to the arbitration court of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation at the location or place of residence of the debtor.
If the location or place of residence of the debtor is unknown, the application is submitted at the location of the debtor's property.
The application must indicate:
- name of the arbitration court to which the application is submitted;
- name and location of the foreign court or the name and composition of the arbitration tribunal or international commercial arbitration, its location in China;
- name of the claimant, his location or place of residence;
- name of the debtor, his location or place of residence;
- information about a decision of a foreign court or a foreign arbitration award, the recognition and enforcement of which is requested by the claimant;
- the claimant’s petition for recognition and enforcement of a foreign court decision or foreign arbitration award;
- list of attached documents.
It is also recommended to indicate in the application the telephone numbers, fax numbers, and email addresses of the claimant, debtor, and their representatives. It is also allowed to provide additional information and indicate other contact details of the parties.
An application for recognition and enforcement of a foreign court decision (in China, these are decisions of non-native courts and higher courts) must be accompanied by:
- copy of the decision of a foreign court or foreign arbitration award, the recognition and enforcement of which is requested;
- document confirming the entry into force of a foreign court decision (if this is not indicated in the text of the decision itself);
- document confirming that the debtor was timely and in proper form notified of the proceedings in a foreign court, for recognition and enforcement of whose decision the claimant is applying;
- POA or other document confirming the powers of the person who signed the application to the arbitration court;
- document confirming that a copy of the application for recognition and enforcement of a foreign court decision has been sent to the debtor;
- duly certified translation of the above documents into Russian.
Moreover, if the application is to enforce a foreign arbitration award (in China, this is the decision of the China International Trade and Economic Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and other arbitration institutions), the following must be attached to the application:
- certified genuine foreign arbitral award or a duly certified copy thereof;
- original arbitration agreement or a duly certified copy thereof.
Such an application, as well as an application for enforcement of a foreign court decision, is accompanied by a duly certified translation into Russian of the specified documents.
The application for recognition and enforcement of a foreign court decision and a foreign arbitration award is also accompanied by a document confirming payment of the state fee in the amount of 3,000 rubles.
These documents can be provided on paper or electronically.
Enforcement of a court decision of the People’s Republic of China
According to Part 1 of Art. 243 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, an application to enforce a decision of the Chinese People’s Court or the Chinese Arbitration Commission is subject to consideration within 1 month. However, in practice, review times may be significantly longer.
When considering an application by a Russian arbitration court, the case is not considered on its merits, but only considers the presence/absence of grounds for refusing to enforce this court decision.
Refusal to recognize and enforce Chinese court decisions
The grounds for refusal to recognize and enforce a PRC court decision are:
- the decision under the laws of the People’s Republic of China has not entered into legal force;
- the Russian party against whom the decision was made was not timely and properly notified of the time and place of the consideration of the case or for other reasons could not submit its explanations to the court;
- consideration of the case in accordance with an international treaty or federal law falls within the exclusive competence of the court in the Russian Federation;
- there is a court decision that has entered into legal force in the Russian Federation, adopted on a dispute between the same persons, on the same subject and on the same grounds;
- a case is pending before a court in the Russian Federation regarding a dispute between the same persons, about the same subject and on the same grounds, the proceedings for which were initiated before the initiation of proceedings in the case in a foreign court, or the court in Russia was the first to accept for its proceedings the application for a dispute between the same persons, about the same subject and on the same grounds;
- the statute of limitations for bringing a foreign court decision to enforcement has expired and this period has not been restored by the arbitration court;
- execution of a foreign court decision would be contrary to the public policy of the Russian Federation.
Based on the results of the consideration of the case, the arbitration court issues a ruling, which can be appealed within 1 month.
In practice, the execution in Russia of decisions of arbitration courts and courts of China is carried out without significant obstacles, and the most common reason for refusing to issue a determination to enforce a court decision is untimely or improper notification of the time and place of consideration of the case.
Enforcement of a decision of the Chinese People’s Court or a decision of the Chinese Arbitration Commission is carried out on the basis of a writ of execution issued by a Russian arbitration court. The deadline for submitting a decision for enforcement is 3 years from the date of entry into force of such a decision.
It is important to note that in order for a Russian arbitration court to enforce court decisions taken in China, additional analysis of documents to be submitted to the Russian arbitration court may be required, as well as an assessment of the presence/absence of grounds for refusing to accept a ruling on enforcement of a court decision.
Legal services
- Legal analysis by Russian lawyer of an accepted commercial arbitration award or state court decision regarding the possibility of its enforcement in Russia
- Preparation of an application for enforcement of a commercial arbitration award
- Formation and submission of an application and necessary documents to the arbitration court for enforcement of a court decision made in China
- Representation by Russian lawyers in arbitration court in Russia
- Representation of the interests of the applicant upon receipt of the writ of execution and its presentation to the bailiffs, as well as support in the conduct of enforcement proceedings