Two foreign ships collided in the Strait of Malacca, facing the dilemma of judicial jurisdiction, they jointly voted in favor of Chinese courts. After a meticulous investigation and trial by the Ningbo Maritime Court, the judgment on the ship collision dispute case, which involved nearly 100 million yuan in litigation, officially came into effect at midnight on April 23. In September 2022, in the busy waters of the Strait of Malacca, a Liberian container ship belonging to Company A of the Marshall Islands collided with a Panamanian large oil tanker belonging to Company B, causing serious damage to both ships. After the accident, Company A applied to the Ningbo Maritime Court to detain the oil tanker repaired at Zhoushan Shipyard. "The previous detention process only took half a day, and the speed of the Ningbo Maritime Court has left a deep impression on us!" Lawyer Tong, the representative of Company A, said that the Ningbo Maritime Court has rich experience and professional efficiency in handling international ship collision cases, which has become an important reason for their preference for Chinese courts. The Ningbo Maritime Court carefully studied over 2600 pages of case materials in both Chinese and English, and fully listened to the opinions of the parties involved in the dispute regarding liability judgment and loss determination. Finally, the plaintiff company A and the defendant company B were judged to bear the accident liability in a 1:9 ratio, and company B paid more than 34 million yuan in losses to company A. "During the trial process, we can feel the trust of both parties in Chinese law and maritime justice," said Du Qian, the President of Ningbo Maritime Court. In such foreign-related civil disputes, both parties can agree to choose which country's law is applicable to the case. When Du Qian solicited opinions in the trial, both parties gave the answer "We believe in Chinese courts, we choose Chinese law". After the judgment came into effect, Lawyer Xu, the representative of Company B, stated that the diligent and responsible work style of the presiding judge, as well as the professional analysis of chart tracks and the application of international conventions, demonstrated China's good legal environment. In recent years, with the greater pace of China's institutional opening-up, more foreign ships have been attracted to Zhejiang Free Trade Zone for bonded ship repairs and bonded fuel oil refueling, leading to an increase in foreign-related maritime disputes. The Ningbo Maritime Court fairly and efficiently resolves various foreign-related disputes, and more and more Chinese and foreign parties actively choose to resolve disputes at the Ningbo Maritime Court. In 2023, the number of foreign-related maritime disputes involving Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan by Ningbo Maritime Court increased by 36% year-on-year. "A high-level opening-up to the outside world cannot be achieved without a market-oriented, legal, and internationalized first-class business environment. The Ningbo Maritime Court adheres to integrity and innovation in foreign-related maritime trials, maritime judicial services, and other aspects, striving to create a preferred place for international maritime dispute resolution, promoting the international influence of China's maritime justice, and providing Chinese wisdom for international maritime dispute resolution." said Shen Qiuming, a professor at the Law School of Shanghai Maritime University. (Lai Xin She)