A Chinese seller and a foreign buyer shake hands at a mediation center in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, in October 2025. [Photo provided by Lyu Bin to China Daily]

Zhejiang's first international commercial court at the county level was inaugurated in Yiwu, a county-level city in Jinhua, on April 2.

According to the approval, the court will handle first-instance foreign-related civil and commercial cases heard by the Yiwu court, including certain cases involving wholly foreign-owned enterprises. It will also handle other judicial assistance matters in international and inter-regional civil and commercial cases under the Yiwu court's jurisdiction, along with related trial work.

In 2005, with approval from the Supreme People's Court, the Yiwu court became the country's first county-level court with jurisdiction over first-instance foreign-related commercial cases.

Over the past two decades, the court has expanded its foreign-related judicial practice. It introduced a dispute resolution model combining professional guidance with mediation involving foreign parties, and appointed foreign mediators to help improve the efficiency of handling cross-border disputes and reduce costs. It also led to the creation of the country's first county-level one-stop mechanism linking litigation, arbitration, and mediation for international commercial disputes.