Research On Improvement Of Cross-border Insolvency Cooperation System Between Mainland And Hong Kong

The economic trade between the mainland and Hong Kong is very close,and the number of cross-regional bankruptcy cases between the two places has also shown a rising trend in recent years.However,due to the imperfect legal systems of the Mainland and Hong Kong in respect of cross-border insolvency recognition and assistance,especially the relatively conservative attitude adopted by the mainland in this field,the practice of cross-border insolvency cooperation between the two places is not ideal.Since the promulgation of the PRC Enterprise Bankruptcy Law in 2007,mainland courts have not invoked Article 5 to recognize extraterritorial insolvency proceedings or to assist foreign insolvency representatives in their execution.On 14 May 2021,the Supreme People’s Court and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region signed the "Minutes of Talks on Mutual Recognition and Assistance in Bankruptcy Proceedings between the Courts of the Mainland and the Courts of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region"(hereinafter referred to as the "Minutes of Talks").Since the signing of the "Minutes of Talks",there have been four cases of Hong Kong courts applying for bankruptcy enforcement to mainland courts.The first of these applications,the Senxin case,has been awarded recognition and assistance by the Shenzhen Intermediate Court,which is also the first case of recognition and assistance for extraterritorial insolvency proceedings in the mainland.This paper will analyze the development and initial achievements of cross-border bankruptcy cooperation between Mainland and Hong Kong by studying the recognition and assistance of mainland courts to Hong Kong bankruptcy cases since the signing of the Minutes of Talks.Compared with the two modes of cross-border insolvency recognition and assistance widely applied internationally,the paper analyzes the progress and limitations of the Minutes of Talks on the future development of cross-border insolvency between the Mainland and Hong Kong under the current background,explores the future development direction of the cross-border insolvency cooperation system between the Mainland and Hong Kong,and puts forward suggestions on improving the cross-border insolvency cooperation system between the two places.This paper is divided into four parts.The first part mainly summarizes the preliminary achievements of cross-border bankruptcy cooperation between the Mainland and Hong Kong before the signing of the Minutes of Talks,and briefly introduces the cross-border bankruptcy system between the mainland and Hong Kong and the cases of Hong Kong court’s assistance to Mainland bankruptcy proceedings.The second part will briefly introduce the contents of the Minutes of Talks and study the cases of Mainland courts assisting Hong Kong bankruptcy cases after signing.This paper analyzes the understanding and application of cases to the Minutes of Talks and summarizes the main types of bankruptcy cooperation cases between Mainland and Hong Kong at present.The third part is mainly based on the analysis of the Minutes of Talks and cases,summarizes the progressiveness and limitations of the insolvency cooperation system between the Mainland and Hong Kong,and compares it with other international insolvency cooperation systems to explore the future development direction of the cross-border insolvency cooperation system between the Mainland and Hong Kong.The fourth part will analyze several viewpoints of the academic community,sum up the best path for the future development of the cross-border bankruptcy cooperation system between the mainland and Hong Kong,and put forward specific suggestions for improving the cross-border bankruptcy cooperation system between the mainland and Hong Kong.