How to approach the reciprocal enforcement of judgments regime with the Mainland

A judgment won in Hong Kong is only as good as the assets it can reach. For any group with counterparty exposure on the Mainland – or a Mainland entity seeking to enforce in Hong Kong – the question of where the money actually lands is the one that matters. Since 29 January 2024, the answer has a new legal foundation.

The Mainland Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 645) – the statute that replaced the narrower 2008 choice-of-court regime – allows effective Mainland judgments to be registered with the Court of First Instance in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong judgments to be used in the Mainland courts, across a far broader range of civil and commercial matters than was previously possible. The old requirement that the parties have expressly conferred exclusive jurisdiction on the originating court is gone; a connection-based test applies instead.

This guide walks through the decision the reader faces, the sequence of steps in order, the gate at each stage, and the most common mistake that stalls enforcement before it begins.

What is the regime, and why does it matter for cross-border disputes now?

Cap. 645 is the governing instrument. It brought into effect the Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters concluded between the courts of the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The regime applies to judgments made on or after 29 January 2024; it covers both monetary and non-monetary relief.

The practical significance is substantial. Before Cap. 645, enforcing a Hong Kong judgment on the Mainland – or a Mainland judgment in Hong Kong – required either the judgment to have been rendered pursuant to an exclusive jurisdiction clause, or the enforcing party to commence fresh proceedings on the underlying cause of action. The exclusive-jurisdiction gate ruled out most standard commercial contracts, which typically use non-exclusive clauses. The result was that a judgment creditor was forced to re-litigate, often in a court unfamiliar with the original dispute.

Cap. 645 removes that gate. In its place, a range of connecting factors – presence of the defendant, place of performance, place of the act or omission, and others – can ground recognition. That is a structural shift. Our cross-border practice sees it reflected in the type of work arriving at the desk: creditors who once assumed re-litigation are now asking a more productive question: can we register instead?

One point warrants emphasis at the outset. The regime has an exclusion list. Matters falling outside its scope include insolvency proceedings, certain patent and intellectual-property disputes, arbitration-related proceedings, matrimonial matters and succession. If the underlying judgment touches any of those categories, a different route applies – and that route analysis should happen before, not after, a registration application is filed.

What decisions does the reader face before any step is taken?

The first decision is not procedural – it is strategic. A judgment creditor with a cross-boundary matter has, in principle, three main options: registration under Cap. 645; reliance on the arbitral-award mutual enforcement arrangement (where the underlying claim went to arbitration, not litigation); or fresh proceedings in the enforcing jurisdiction. Each option carries a different risk profile, a different timeline and a different set of eligibility conditions.

Mapping those options honestly is the starting point. Where the underlying dispute was resolved by litigation rather than arbitration, Cap. 645 is the primary instrument to examine. Where an arbitral award exists, the 1999 Arrangement and the 2020 Supplemental Arrangement govern mutual enforcement between the Mainland and Hong Kong – and since the 2021 amendment to that regime, simultaneous enforcement applications are permitted. These two channels do not overlap, but a creditor who has pursued arbitration and then obtained a court judgment in related proceedings may need to consider which instrument governs which part of the relief.

The second decision is about sequencing assets. Cap. 645 is a registration mechanism. It does not itself compel payment; it converts a Mainland judgment into an instrument that the Hong Kong courts can act on, or vice versa. Before investing in registration, the creditor should have at least a working view of where the debtor's assets sit and whether those assets are within reach of the enforcing court. That asset-tracing step – which our disputes desk handles in coordination with allied counsel in the relevant jurisdictions – is not optional.

The third decision concerns timing. Effective Mainland judgments carry their own finality dates. Registration applications in Hong Kong must be brought within a defined period from the date the Mainland judgment became effective. Missing that window does not simply delay enforcement; it may foreclose the registration route entirely, leaving only the far slower and more expensive option of fresh proceedings. Verify the limitation period applicable to the specific judgment before anything else is done.

How does the step-by-step sequence actually run?

Step one is confirmation that the judgment is within scope. The applicant – the judgment creditor – needs a certified copy of the Mainland judgment and a certificate issued by the originating Mainland court. Where the judgment is in Mandarin only, a certified translation into English is required for the Hong Kong proceedings. These documents are the foundation of the application; defects in certification or translation are a common early failure point.

Step two is the connecting-factor analysis. Cap. 645 requires the applicant to establish that the originating court had jurisdiction by reference to the connecting-factor test. That analysis turns on the facts of the underlying dispute – where the defendant was present or resident, where the contract was to be performed, where the relevant act occurred. The analysis is not mechanical; it requires a read of the original pleadings and the judgment itself, matched against the statutory connecting factors. Where the facts are ambiguous, a considered legal opinion on jurisdiction before filing can prevent a failed application.

Step three is the registration application to the Court of First Instance. This is an originating application, not an action on the judgment. The court does not re-examine the merits of the original dispute. It examines whether the formal conditions for registration are met: that the judgment is effective and enforceable in the Mainland; that it is within scope; that no ground for refusal applies; and that the connecting-factor test is satisfied.

The grounds for refusal include fraud in obtaining the judgment, breach of natural justice in the original proceedings, and incompatibility with Hong Kong public policy. Where any of those grounds has potential relevance to the specific judgment, anticipating and addressing it in the application documents – rather than leaving it to the debtor to raise – is the stronger approach.

Step four: once the registration order is made, the debtor has a period within which to apply to set it aside. That period and the mechanism for service of the registration order are critical. Creditors who obtain registration but then delay service forfeit the advantage that registration provides. Move promptly.

Step five is the enforcement of the registered judgment. At this point the registered Mainland judgment is treated as a judgment of the Court of First Instance. The standard Hong Kong post-judgment enforcement tools become available: charging orders over Hong Kong assets, garnishee orders over accounts, writ of fieri facias (execution against goods), and appointment of a receiver. The choice among those tools depends on the nature and location of the debtor's assets in Hong Kong.

For Hong Kong judgment creditors seeking enforcement on the Mainland, the procedural mirror image applies. The Hong Kong courts issue a certificate for use in the Mainland proceedings, and the Mainland court applies the corresponding registration procedure under the Arrangement. Our desk coordinates that process through allied counsel admitted in the relevant Mainland jurisdiction.

What is the most common mistake – and how does the step-by-step route avoid it?

The most common mistake is not procedural. It is sequencing. Creditors who have obtained a Mainland judgment occasionally file the registration application in Hong Kong before they have a workable answer to a basic question: what can the Hong Kong court actually do with a registered judgment if the debtor has no reachable assets in Hong Kong at the relevant time?

Registration is not itself recovery. A registered judgment against a debtor whose Hong Kong assets have been dissipated or transferred before the registration order is served produces no return. Worse, a failed or fruitless enforcement attempt can alert the debtor to the creditor's strategy and create time for further asset movement.

The step-by-step approach set out above inverts that error. Asset position comes before registration application. If the preliminary asset picture is thin, the creditor's adviser should be looking at whether interim measures are available in parallel – either through the Hong Kong courts or, where the underlying dispute was seated arbitration, through the interim-measures arrangement that has been in effect since 1 October 2019. That arrangement allows a party to arbitral proceedings seated in Hong Kong to seek interim measures from Mainland courts before the registration or recognition question arises.

A second common error is treating Cap. 645 as a universal enforcement route. The exclusion list is real and broad enough to catch a surprising range of commercial disputes – particularly where the underlying matter touched intellectual property, an insolvency process, or a shareholder relationship that a Mainland court characterised differently from how the Hong Kong creditor framed it. Checking scope before filing is not a formality.

What foreign counsel – particularly those unfamiliar with the Greater China enforcement environment – frequently underestimate is the role of the connecting-factor analysis. Lawyers accustomed to the simple exclusive-jurisdiction test of the prior regime sometimes assume that the new, broader test is easier to satisfy. It is broader, but it is not automatic. The facts still need to be mapped to the statutory criteria, and an arguable jurisdiction challenge from the debtor can delay or defeat registration if the groundwork is not done at step two.

We have acted on cross-boundary enforcement matters where the jurisdiction analysis at step two identified a genuine gap in the Mainland judgment – not a defect that would defeat registration on the face of it, but one that created a set-aside risk if the debtor was well-advised. In those situations, the better move was to prepare for the set-aside application in advance and address the risk pre-emptively in the filing documents, rather than discover it when the debtor's response arrived.

The sequence above describes the standard position. Your matter turns on the documents, the jurisdictions actually engaged, and the order of steps – which is where the route is won or lost. To discuss where your enforcement position stands under Cap. 645, write to us at info@lockhartyip.com.

How does this compare with the arbitral-award enforcement route?

For disputes that went to arbitration rather than litigation, the governing instruments are different: the 1999 Arrangement between the Mainland and Hong Kong for the mutual enforcement of arbitral awards, and the 2020 Supplemental Arrangement. Since the 2021 amendment, a party may apply for enforcement of the same award simultaneously in both the Mainland and Hong Kong – a significant practical advantage where the debtor has assets on both sides.

The two channels – Cap. 645 for court judgments and the Arrangements for arbitral awards – are not alternatives that a creditor chooses freely. The nature of the underlying dispute resolution determines which regime applies. A party who went to Mainland court litigation is in the Cap. 645 channel; a party who went to arbitration seated in Hong Kong or the Mainland is in the Arrangements channel. The importance of the forum decision at the outset of a dispute, before litigation or arbitration is commenced, is therefore greater than many parties recognise when drafting dispute-resolution clauses.

There is, however, an interaction point. Where a Mainland court has confirmed or set aside an arbitral award as part of its judgment, the character of that judgment for enforcement purposes needs careful analysis. Our desk sees this issue periodically in cross-boundary matters involving PRC-seated arbitrations where a party then obtained a Mainland court judgment on the award. The categorisation – judgment or award – determines which enforcement route is available in Hong Kong and what the relevant conditions are.

For matters with a dispute-resolution clause still to be drafted, the choice between an exclusive Mainland court clause, a non-exclusive clause that now engages Cap. 645, and an arbitration clause pointing to a Hong Kong or Mainland seat involves considerations of enforcement, interim measures, and confidentiality that should be weighed together. See our disputes and arbitration practice for the full picture on forum selection and enforcement strategy.

If an earlier filing, structure or enforcement attempt produced an adverse or stalled result, a second read can identify the strategic error and the routes still open. Write to info@lockhartyip.com with the background.

Decision checklist: is the registration route the right move?

Before filing a registration application under Cap. 645 – or instructing allied Mainland counsel to seek recognition of a Hong Kong judgment in the Mainland courts – the following questions should have a clear answer.

Is the judgment dated on or after 29 January 2024? Cap. 645 does not apply to judgments made before that date. For earlier judgments, the prior regime or fresh proceedings remain the only options.

Is the subject matter of the judgment within the scope of Cap. 645? Check the exclusion list: insolvency, certain intellectual property, arbitration-related proceedings, matrimonial, succession. If the matter is excluded, identify the correct route before investing in an application that will fail at the threshold.

Is the judgment effective and enforceable in the originating jurisdiction? A Mainland judgment that is still subject to appeal or that has not yet become effective cannot be registered. Confirm the status of the judgment with the originating Mainland court, and obtain the required certificate.

Does a connecting-factor analysis support the jurisdiction of the originating court? Work through the statutory factors against the facts of the underlying dispute. Where the analysis is not straightforward, obtain a considered opinion before filing.

Where are the debtor's assets? Is registration in Hong Kong (or recognition in the Mainland) going to produce an executable instrument against identifiable, reachable assets? If not, what is the plan – and does that plan involve interim measures, asset tracing, or a parallel application in another jurisdiction?

Is the limitation period for the registration application still open? Confirm the period applicable to the specific judgment, and do not assume.

Are there grounds for refusal that the debtor is likely to raise? Fraud, natural justice, public policy. If any of these has potential relevance, address the issue in the application documents.

The checklist is not exhaustive. For asset-tracing steps that may be needed alongside or before the registration application, see our matter note on post-award asset tracing, and for the enforcement route in common-law jurisdictions, the note on enforcing Hong Kong arbitral awards in the United Kingdom provides a useful point of comparison.

A note on the cross-border interface: Hong Kong as the enforcement forum

Hong Kong occupies an unusual position in Greater China enforcement. It is a common-law jurisdiction, English is an official working language of its courts, and it implements United Nations sanctions without giving domestic effect to the unilateral measures of other states. For international creditors with Mainland counterparties, that combination matters.

The Court of First Instance has a well-established body of practice on cross-boundary enforcement. Its approach to registration applications under statutory recognition regimes is procedurally disciplined and, in our experience before the Hong Kong courts, generally moves at a pace that reflects the commercial stakes.

For creditors whose judgment is against a PRC-connected entity or whose assets include interests governed by PRC law, the interaction between Cap. 645 and the Foreign States Immunity Law (the PRC's restrictive immunity statute, in force from 1 January 2024) may also be relevant where any sovereign or state-adjacent entity is involved. That analysis sits at the intersection of the enforcement and international-law questions and warrants specific advice.

The common-law system's doctrine of binding precedent means that the body of case law developing around Cap. 645 will, over time, provide a degree of predictability that creditors and their advisers can plan against. In the period immediately following commencement, that body of law is still developing; the textual analysis and connecting-factor arguments available under the Ordinance are therefore particularly important in the early applications.

Across our cross-border disputes practice, the pattern we observe is consistent: the creditors who succeed are those who do the legal and factual work before filing, rather than after the debtor's opposition materialises. The regime created by Cap. 645 is a strong one. Misapplied or applied prematurely, it still produces delay and cost that a well-sequenced approach avoids.

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• Disputes & Arbitration – cross-border litigation strategy, arbitration, and enforcement across Greater China and offshore centres
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This publication is general information and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on your situation, contact info@lockhartyip.com.