On April 28, 2026, the SPC officially issued Several Provisions on the Temporal Effects of Application of the Maritime Code of the People’s Republic of China (Fa Shi [2026] No. 8). The Provisions were adopted at the 1974th session of the Adjudication Committee of the SPC on April 20, 2026, effective from May 1, 2026.The new Maritime Code took effect on May 1, 2026. To effectively address the issue of applying the new and old versions of the MaritimeCode and unify adjudication standards in maritime trials, the SPC drafted the Provisions. The Provisions adhere to the principle of non-retroactivity of law, clarify the general rules for the transitional application of the old and new Maritime Codes, and focus on five categories of special circumstances prone to disputes in maritime judicial practice, including contracts with performance spanning the effective dates of the old and new Maritime Codes, transfer of ship mortgage rights, marine insurance contracts, electronic transport records, and suspension and interruption of limitation periods, making special provisions to provide clear guidance for maritime judicial practice.

(Source: Supreme People’s Court — www.court.gov.cn)