CISG in Chinese Courts: The Issue of Applicability

This Article makes a long overdue inquiry into the current practice of Chinese courts in approaching the issue whether the CISG is applicable to the dispute at hand. Despite growing interest in judgments delivered by Chinese courts on this issue, it remains a mystery whether, and to what extent, such judgments conform to both the words and spirit of the Convention and give adequate consideration to internationally developed CISG jurisprudence. Drawing upon both empirical and doctrinal analyses of 177 Chinese court judgments, the Article identifies the courts' failure, due possibly to oversight, to address the internationality test under Article 1(1)(a) of the CISG as the most pressing problem in need of immediate rectification and reveals the differing forms and magnitude in which Chinese courts exhibit a "homeward trend" in dealing with discrete aspects of the issue of applicability. Responsive suggestions are accordingly made to tackle the problems identified