China's top court on Wednesday released five typical cases to specify rules for ascertaining and applying extraterritorial laws in handling foreign-related civil and commercial cases, with the aim of further optimizing the country's legal and business environment.

After the Supreme People's Court (SPC) issued a series of judicial interpretations at the end of 2023, which provided provisions on the ascertainment of foreign laws, these typical cases were released to ensure a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the interpretations.

These cases involve common types of civil and commercial cases with foreign elements and encompass the laws of countries and regions such as the United States, Britain, Mexico and Tajikistan.

Through these cases, it has been made clear that people's courts are responsible for ascertaining extraterritorial laws if necessary.

For instance, in a contract dispute case, there was significant disagreement between the parties regarding the content, interpretation and application of extraterritorial laws. The court did not simply conclude that the foreign laws could not be ascertained based on this alone. Instead, it conducted a comprehensive analysis and careful comparison to make a cautious ascertainment of the extraterritorial laws.

In the typical cases released, diverse and comprehensive approaches were utilized to ascertain foreign laws, ensuring the parties' right to fully express their opinions and improving the efficiency and accuracy of ascertaining foreign laws, according to the SPC.