Introduction of NanJing Maritime Court
Located on China’s eastern coast, Jiangsu is the only province in the country that boasts great rivers, a major lake, and the sea all at once. The province covers a sea area of 37,500 square kilometers and has a coastline of 954 kilometers.It sits at the intersection of two national strategies—the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta—and also at the convergence point of the Belt and Road Initiative, serving as a key gateway for China to connect with and embrace the world. In recent years, Jiangsu has achieved sound development of its marine economy. Its annual port cargo throughput has exceeded 3.6 billion tons, ranking first nationwide for consecutive years. The three major indicators of shipbuilding account for around 47% of the national total.The gross marine product of the province has exceeded the trillion-yuan mark for the first time.
On December 4, 2019, Nanjing Maritime Court of the People's Republic of China officially commenced operations. The Court has 8 internal functional organs and has set up 4 dispatched tribunals in Lianyungang, Nantong, Taizhou, and Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Nanjing Maritime Court has accepted 18,927 cases of various types and concluded/executed 18,277 cases. In 2025, it accepted 4,899 cases and concluded/executed 4,249 cases, with both the number of cases accepted and concluded ranking 3rd among all maritime courts in China. In 2025, the court accepted a total of 515 cases involving foreign elements, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, representing a year-on-year increase of 37.7%. The average case closure period was shortened by 19.69 days year on year. Foreign parties in 26 cases that had no actual connection with China voluntarily chose to initiate litigation or apply for ship arrest at this court.
Nanjing Maritime Court possesses the following advantages:
1.The litigation experience is user-friendly, providing Chinese-English bilingual litigation services as well as online services including remote hearings.
2.The litigation process is transparent: the English website supports searching maritime laws and regulations by English keywords, reviewing typical previous cases, and learning about maritime litigation knowledge.
3.Diverse dispute resolution options are available, with 80% of foreign-related disputes resolved through mediation.
4.The litigation procedure is efficient, with an average trial duration of about three months for foreign-related cases.
5.The judicial team is highly professional， 84 staff hold master’s degrees or above, and 10 have overseas study experience.
