Overview Of Key Amendments To The “New” Chinese Maritime Code — Insights Into The New Maritime Law: Part One

Abstract:

The Maritime Code of the People's Republic of China (“CMC”) completed its first systematic and comprehensive revision on 28 October 2025, and the revision came into effect on 1 May 2026. JT&N intends to publish a series of dedicated analysis on key amendments to the chapters and articles in the Cross-Border Dispute Resolution Newsletter. This article, which is the first one of the series, provides an overview of the main contents of the amendments from two perspectives: a high-level summary and highlights of key changes in each chapter.

On 28 October 2025, the 18th Session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress voted to adopt the amended Maritime Code of the People's Republic of China (the “New CMC”), marking the first systematic and comprehensive revision of this legislation that has been in effect since 1993, which came into force on 1 May 2026¹. This revision actively responds to the needs of the times, including digitalization of shipping, marine environmental protection, and high-standard opening up.²

I. KEY CHANGES FROM A HIGH-LEVEL OVERVIEW

The amendments cover all previous fifteen chapters of CMC (the CMC before the amendments is referred to as the “Original CMC” in this article). The New CMC has been increased to sixteen chapters comprising three hundred and ten articles. From a high-level perspective, the New CMC presents the following three aspects of changes on the whole.

1.Strengthening the Protection of the Marine Ecological Environment

Article 1 of Chapter I “General Provisions” in the New CMC incorporates “protection of the marine ecological environment” into the legislative purposes, and a new chapter on “Liability for Vessel Oil Pollution Damage” is added, reflecting the emphasis placed on the construction of ecological civilization in this law amendment. The newly added Chapter XII “Liability for Vessel Oil Pollution Damage” comprises 15 articles divided into three sections. The addition of this chapter filled the gaps in the original legal system, and provided a unified legal basis for courts to adjudicate vessel oil pollution cases.³

2.Inclusion of Domestic Carriage of Goods by Sea

Prior to this amendment, China's legislation on the carriage of goods by sea adopted a “dual-track system”: international maritime cargo transportation was subject to the provisions of Chapter IV of the Maritime Code, while domestic carriage of goods by sea did not fall within the scope of application of this Chapter and was subject to the relevant provisions of the Civil Code. Upon this amendment, Chapter IV “Contract of Carriage of Goods by Sea” of the New CMC adopts a legislative model called the “minimum dual-track system”, maximising the inclusion of both international and domestic contracts of carriage of goods by sea within the scope of the New CMC as well as within the amended Chapter IV⁴. However, this amendment does not bring inland waterway cargo transportation between inland river ports of China within the scope to which the New CMC applies.

3.Three Types of charterparties into a unified chapter

The original Section 7 of Chapter IV, “Special Provisions on Voyage Charters”, is relocated into Section 2 of Chapter VI “Charterparties”. This expands Chapter VI from the time charterparties and bareboat charterparties to a comprehensive charterparty regulatory system also covering the voyage charterparties.⁵

II.KEY REVISIONS BY CHAPTER

1.Chapter I: General Provisions

Article 2 of Chapter I deleted the second paragraph in Original CMC that excludes the application of Chapter IV to carriage of goods by sea between domestic ports. Chapter I also stipulates penalties for vessels “illegally flying the flags of other countries, regions, or organizations” and extends the regulatory authority for maritime transport to the corresponding local competent authorities (Article 6).

2.Chapter II: Vessels

The amendments to Chapter II “Ships” focus on four aspects: structural optimization, coordination with the Civil Code, alignment with relevant international conventions, and response to practical needs.⁶

Firstly, an independent Section 4 “Possessory Lien on Ships” (Articles 30-32) is added to Chapter II, completing the ship property rights system.

Secondly, several amendments are made to maintain consistency with the Civil Code, including explicitly setting forth the registration confrontation doctrine in the ship ownership rules, modifying the definition of mortgage on ships, permitting the transfer of mortgaged ships without “consent of the mortgagee” as a prerequisite (Article 17), and determining the priority of satisfaction based on the chronological order of mortgage registration.

Thirdly, the provisions on “maritime lien” are aligned with the relevant provisions of the International Convention on Maritime Liens and Mortgages, 1993, including narrowing the scope of property compensation claims arising from tort secured by maritime lien under the original law (Article 22), expanding the exclusions from maritime lien (Article 22), adding “ship manager” to the list of debtor subjects for maritime claims secured by maritime lien (Article 21), providing that subrogation of maritime claims will also result in the transfer of maritime lien (Article 26), and clarifying the commencement point of the one-year exclusion period for crew wages (Article 28).

In addition, to satisfy practical needs, the revision adds ownership rules under ship financial lease contracts (Article 8) and new rules on ownership of ships under construction (Article 10).

3.Chapter III: Seafarers

Chapter III “Seafarers” significantly strengthens the protection of seafarers' labor rights and interests, expressly stipulating that seafarers' employers shall conclude labor contracts with seafarers in accordance with the law or international treaties to which China is a party or which China has concluded (such as the Maritime Labour Convention)⁷. This Chapter also optimises administrative regulations for Chinese and foreign seafarers (Article 34) and clarifies the master’s independent decision-making authority on ship abandonment while emphasising obligations for pollution prevention and mitigation (Article 40).

4.Chapter IV: Contract for the Carriage of Goods by Sea

Chapter IV “Contract of the Carriage of Goods by Sea” is one of the important components of CMC, and the main revisions can be summarised as follows:

Firstly, the scope of application of this chapter has been expanded in both directions. On one hand, domestic carriage of goods by sea has been incorporated into Chapter IV, unifying the basic systems for carriers under international and domestic maritime transport, including the period of responsibility, obligation to taking care for cargo, and package limitation of liabilities, while retaining certain different provisions for carriers under domestic carriage than the international carriers, including the period of application of the seaworthiness obligation (Article 48), and the non-applicability of the negligence in navigation or management exemption and fire exemptions to domestic carriage (Article 52). On the other hand, mandatory application rules for Chapter IV to international carriage have been added: international contracts for carriage of goods by sea where the port of loading or port of discharge is within the territory of China shall be mandatorily subject to Chapter IV.

Secondly, multiple adjustments have been made to the rights and obligations of the parties. The carrier's obligations in respect of cargo management have been expanded to nine items (with “receipt” and “delivery” newly added), and the definition of “actual carrier” has been adjusted to cover performing parties who, upon entrustment or sub-entrustment by the carrier, perform the aforementioned carrier's obligations in respect of cargo management (such as port operators meeting the prescribed conditions). The calculation standard for compensation for cargo damage satisfies the need to compensate for loss of expected profit (Article 56, Paragraph 2). The carrier's method of calculating compensation for cargo damage has also been amended to cover profit at the place of receipt. The New CMC adds the shipper's obligation to deliver agreed cargo suitable for carriage (Article 67), and improves the notification obligation in respect of “emergency response measures” for dangerous goods (Article 70). The party bearing the risk of costs for unclaimed cargo at the port of destination has been changed from the consignee to the shipper, with further provisions on the conditions under which the consignee shall bear such risk of costs (Article 93); with reference to Article 829 of the Civil Code and “right of control” under the Rotterdam Rules, the New CMC adds the shipper’s right to vary the contract of carriage and the conditions under which the carrier may refuse such variation.

Thirdly, the newly added Section 5 “Electronic Transport Records” (Articles 82-86) extensively draws upon relevant international conventions and extraterritorial legislation, addressing the core concerns of shipping digitalization, and covers three major aspects: the definition of electronic transport records, the functional equivalence principle and non-discrimination principle and the issuance and conversion rules of electronic transport records.⁸

Last but not the least, the New CMC also adds “transport document” as the superordinate definition of “bills of lading”, which also clarifies that the rights and obligations of the carrier and the consignee shall be governed by Chapter IV when no bill of lading has been issued (Article 79), and systematically stipulates the delivery rules under five categories of transport documents under CMC (Article 87).

5.Chapter V: Contract of Carriage of Passengers by Sea

Chapter V “Maritime Passenger Transportation Contract” is mainly amended in three aspects: firstly, unifying the unit liability limitation of carriers under international and domestic maritime passenger transportation contracts, and substantially increasing the unit liability limitation with reference to the 1990 Protocol to the 1974 Athens Convention, raising the limitation for compensation for personal injury or death of passengers from 46,666 Special Drawing Rights to 175,000 Special Drawing Rights per person, with corresponding increases to the liability limitation for compensation for loss of or damage to other property of passengers (Article 115); secondly, amending the definition of maritime passenger transportation to adapt to the needs of modern cruise tourism (Article 105); and thirdly, adding provisions on compulsory liability insurance for carriers (Article 125) with introducing a direct action mechanism (Article 126).

6.Chapter VI: Charterparties

This Chapter mainly incorporates the section on “Voyage Charters” which was originally stipulated in Chapter IV “Contract of the Carriage of Goods by Sea” into this Chapter, consolidating three different types of charterparties into a dedicated chapter, while still retaining the application of certain rules in Chapter IV to voyage charters. Such adjustment renders the provisions on charterparties more systematic and concentrated, facilitating the application and understanding of the law, and balancing the parties’ contractual autonomy and the mandatory rules of the New CMC on maritime carriage.⁹

7.Chapter VII: Towage Contract at Sea

This Chapter mainly adds in Article 168, i.e. the provision that “the towing fee shall be determined according to the actual completed part of the towing” when the contract cannot continue to be performed due to force majeure or other reasons not attributable to either party.

8.Chapter VIII-X: Ship Collision, Salvage and General Average

The amendments to these three chapters are relatively minor. Among the other things, the revisions to Chapter VIII “Collision of Ships” consist solely of wording optimisation and terminology unification, without altering the original statutory rights and obligations structure; Chapter IX “Salvage at Sea” supplements the rule that the provisions of this chapter shall yield to the agreement of the salvage contract (except for the relevant provisions of Article 185) (paragraph 3 of Article 180); Chapter X “General Average” primarily clarifies that losses caused by or expenses paid for discharged pollutants shall not be included in the general average.

9.Chapter XI: Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims

This Chapter has made comprehensive increases to the maritime liability limitation for compensation. On the one hand, Chapter XI, with reference to the 1996 Protocol to the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, has substantially raised the limits of maritime liability for compensation. Meanwhile, it has achieved the “integration” of the limits of liability for compensation between domestic and international carriers of passengers by sea. On the other hand, with respect to the carriage of passengers by sea, the upper limit of maritime liability for compensation for the carriage of passengers by sea as provided in the Original CMC has been removed, and it is expressly provided that the limit of liability for compensation shall be calculated by multiplying 175,000 Special Drawing Rights by the passenger capacity specified in the ship's certificate.

10.Chapter XII: Liability for Oil Pollution Damage from Ships

Chapter XII “Liability for Oil Pollution Damage from Ships” is the only newly added chapter in the New CMC, comprising 15 articles and divided into three sections: “General Provisions”, “Liability for Oil Pollution Damage from Ships Carrying Oil in Bulk as Cargo” and “Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage from Ships”, which systematically establishes the legal framework for compensation for oil pollution damage from ships in China by drawing upon the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 1969 and the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage,2001, to both of which China is a party.¹⁰

11.Chapter XIII: Marine Insurance Contract

Numerous amendments are made to Chapter XIII “Marine Insurance Contract”. The key points are as follows: firstly, with respect to the insured’s duty of disclosure, the voluntary disclosure model for the insured is retained (Article 247), while “causation defence” of the insured and other restrictions on the insurer's refusal to pay and right to rescind are introduced for non-intentional failure to disclose (Article 248); secondly, the insurer’s duty to give prompt and explanation is introduced, but the “active duty to explain” under the Insurance Law is modified to a “passive duty to explain” (Article 249). thirdly, the legal consequences of breaching warranty are added (Article 261); fourthly, the open policy is for the first time explicitly defined and required to be in written form by legislation (Article 257), with distinguishing legal consequences of intentional and non-intentional misrepresentation (Article 259) and improving the exercise period of the right to rescind and the premium refund rules (Article 248); fifthly, the amendment also clarifies that the provisions of this Chapter shall apply to insurance contracts for ships under construction (Article 245).

12.Chapter XIV: Limitation Period

Chapter XIV ultimately adopts the model of “short limitation period + liberal interruption system + prohibition of extension by agreement” among multiple amendment approaches. While substantially retaining the basic limitation rules of the Original CMC (for example, the limitation period for claims regarding carriage of goods by sea remains one year as a short limitation period), the New CMC adds “making a demand for performance” to the three categories of interruption causes stipulated in the Original CMC, namely “filing a lawsuit”, “submitting to arbitration” and “the obligor’s agreement to perform the obligation”, so as to achieve consistency with the Civil Code (Article 294).

13.Chapter XV: Application of Law in Foreign-related Relations

Chapter XV “Application of Law in Foreign-related Relations” of the New CMC has been substantially amended by adding a mandatory application rule of Chapter IV, which explicitly stipulates that international contracts of carriage of goods by sea with loading ports or discharging ports located within the territory of China shall mandatorily apply the provisions of Chapter IV. In addition, this Chapter newly adds rules on the application of law for legal relations concerning ship’s lien, liability for oil pollution damage from ships, and general average contribution, thereby perfecting the conflict of laws system for foreign-related maritime legal relations.

14.Chapter XVI: Supplementary Provisions

In the revision of Chapter XVI “Supplementary Provisions” , There are two newly added clauses that may warrant particular attention: firstly, a new paragraph was added to Article 308, drawing on relevant formulations from legislation such as the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law and the Foreign Trade Law, stipulating that, where other countries or regions adopt discriminatory measures against China in the fields of maritime transport and shipbuilding, China may take corresponding countermeasures, thereby enriching the legal toolkit¹¹; secondly, a definition was provided for shipowners’ mutual insurance organizations, though no provision was made regarding the applicable law when such organizations assume liability for compensation.

III.CONCLUSION

The New CMC represents a significant milestone in the development of Chinese maritime rule of law. The amendments fill long-standing legislative gaps in multiple areas, including the difference in respect of law applications in international and domestic carriage of goods by sea, the oil pollution damage from ships, the limits of liability for passenger carriage and maritime claims, and the codification of electronic transport records, while achieving conditional alignment and localised adaptation with international maritime conventions on several key institutional fronts. For practitioners, the implementation of the New CMC signifies a series of profound changes in the legal rules governing international and domestic maritime carriage. Nevertheless, the practical consequences of certain newly introduced mechanism remain to be tested through judicial practice and supplemented by supporting judicial interpretations, requiring further clarification through subsequent regulations.

Footnotes

1 Order of the President of the People's Republic of China (No. 58) 中华人民共和国主席令（第五十八号） [EB/OL]. The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, October 28, 2025. https://www.gov.cn/yaowen/liebiao/202510/content_7046101.htm.

2 “Wei Hangyun Maoyi Gaozhiliang Fazhan Ligui Huhang” 为航运贸易高质量发展立规护航 [Establishing Rules to Safeguard High-Quality Development of Shipping and Trade] [EB/OL]. National People's Congress, October 29, 2025. http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c2/c30834/202510/t20251029_449085.html.

3 Wu Xu 吴煦, Li Zhiwen 李志文, Jiang Yuechuan 蒋跃川, et al., “Hai Shang Fa Xiu Ding Zhong Dian Zhang Jie Zhi Yao Dian Jie Du” 海商法修订重点章节之要点解读 [Interpretation of Key Points in the Revised Chapters of the Maritime Law], World Shipping 世界海运, vol. 49, no. 1 (2026): 1-10.

4 Hu Zhengliang 胡正良, “Hai Shang Fa ‘Hai Shang Huowu Yunshu Hetong’ Zhang zhi Xiuding: Jicheng yu Chuangxin” 海商法“海上货物运输合同”章之修订：继承与创新 [Revision of the Chapter on “Contract of Carriage of Goods by Sea” in the Maritime Law: Inheritance and Innovation], Chinese Journal of Maritime Law 中国海商法研究, vol. 37, no. 1 (2026): 17-29.

5 “Guanyu ‘Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Haishang Fa (Xiuding Cao’an)’ de Shuoming” 关于《中华人民共和国海商法（修订草案）》的说明 [Explanation on the Maritime Law of the People’s Republic of China (Revision Draft)] [EB/OL]. National People’s Congress, October 31, 2025. http://www.npc.gov.cn/c2/c30834/202510/t20251031_449196.html.

6 See note 3, supra.

7 “Hai Shang Fa Wancheng Sanshinian Shouci Quan Fugaide Shengji” 海商法完成三十年首次全覆盖升级 [Maritime Law Completes Its First Comprehensive Upgrade in 30 Years] [EB/OL]. People’s Daily Online, October 29, 2025. http://society.people.com.cn/n1/2025/1029/c1008-40591930.html.

8 Cao Xingguo 曹兴国, “Xin Xiuding de Haishang Fa Dui Hangyun Shuzihua Fazhan de Guize Huiying” 新修订的海商法对航运数字化发展的规则回应 [Response of the Newly Revised Maritime Law to the Rules of Shipping Digitalization Development], Democracy and Law Times 民主与法制时报, January 8, 2026, sec. 006.

9 Chu Beiping 初北平, “Xin ‘Haishang Fa’ zhong Haishang Huowu Yunshu Zhidu de Zhongda Bianhua Jiexi” 新《海商法》中海上货物运输制度的重大变化解析 [Analysis of Major Changes in the Carriage of Goods by Sea System under the New Maritime Law], China Ship Survey 中国船检, no. 11 (2025): 56-60.

10 See note 3, supra.

11 Chu Beiping 初北平, et al., eds., Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Haishang Fa Xinjiu Duizhao yu Shiyong Zhiyin 中华人民共和国海商法新旧对照与适用指引 [A Comparative Guide to the Old and New Maritime Law of the People’s Republic of China] (Beijing: Law Press, 2026), 367.