Chinese Maritime & Commercial Law Reports

Oil pollution damage – fishermen alleged that oil leaked out from the offshore drilling platform of Kerr-McGee and polluted their fishery farm – fishermen and Kerr-McGee all retained experts to carry out satellite imaging analysis regarding the origin of the oil spill; burden of proof of the parties – balance of probability

Container transportation, cargo damage – SINOTRANS concluded container line cooperation agreement with EAS International Shipping – EAS time chartered a vessel for transportation – containers fell out of vessel because of typhoon – the vessel’s owner established limitation fund in South Korea – whether EAS can be exempted for reason of force majeure – whether EAS can enjoy the limitation if the limitation fund is not established – whether Chinese court should proceed with handling of the case irrespective of the limitation fund established in South Korea

L/C transaction dispute-application to suspend payment for reason of fraud – silent confirmation – fraud exception rules and its exception

Ship building contract, insurance subrogation claim – Yantian Tug Co. concluded shipbuilding contract with Zhenjiang Shipyard – shipbuilding contract provided that Yantian Tug Co. shall be responsible to purchase the main engine of the ship and Zhenjiang Shipyard shall be responsible for the arranging of the transportation and custody of the main engine from Zhenjiang port to the shipyard – Yantian Tug Co. ordered two main engines from Japan and shipped to Zhenjiang port – Yantian Tug Co. mailed the B/L to Zhenjiang Shipyard and entrusted it to carry out the transportation – during the road transportation, the truck that carried the main engine turned over and the main engine was damaged – whether the shipyard shall be liable for the risk during land transportation – time bar of the claim, one year or two years

The first anti-monopoly case in China after the enactment of Anti-monopoly Law of China in 2007 – the definition of relevant market – whether SHANDA is in a dominate position of the market – whether SHANDA abused the dominate position and caused damages

Application to enforce ICC arbitration award in China – arbitration clause: “any dispute relating to the performance of this contract or in connection with this contract should be submitted to the arbitration committee of the International Chamber of Commerce situated in Beijing, China “ – whether ICC has violated the law of China by rendering an arbitral award in China – whether the parties actually had chosen to arbitrate before CIETAC – “non-domestic awards” and whether this arbitration award should be recognized and enforced

Jurisdiction dispute – Validity of choice of court agreement that has no practical connection with the dispute – “Heron II” online game Exclusive Game Agency and License Agreement between a Chinese company and a South Korea Company – Choice of Chinese law and Singapore court to resolve the dispute – Difference between the applicable law of the contract and the choice of law clause – lex fori – The practical connection principle – Whether the choice of court clause is valid under Chinese Civil Procedure Law

Sales of second hand house – adjustment of Chinese government real property market policy – Central Bank raised the mortgage down payment for second-home buyers from 30% to 40% – the complaint cannot obtain loan from the bank – whether the change of government mortgage down payment policy can be viewed as force majeure