On 1 November 2025, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) implemented new rules adjusting the jurisdiction of its three Internet Courts in Hangzhou, Beijing, and Guangzhou.
This move marks the first major revision of the Internet Courts’ case scope since the SPC issued initial guidelines for these specialised tribunals in 2018. The reforms aim to sharpen the courts’ focus on complex and novel internet disputes, while transferring more routine online cases back to local courts.
A key change is the addition of four new categories to the Internet Courts’ exclusive jurisdiction: disputes involving (1) personal data protection and privacy, (2) online unfair competition, and (3-4) ownership, infringement and contract issues relating to online data and to virtual assets. At the same time, several common internet disputes have been removed from the Internet Courts’ docket and returned to local courts. For example, small online lending disputes, routine online copyright claims, e-commerce product liability cases, and traditional online defamation and personal rights claims will now be handled by local courts. This shift allows local courts to efficiently resolve minor disputes and frees the Internet Courts to focus on precedent-setting issues.
The jurisdictional update also covers administrative and cross-border cases. Each Internet Court will centrally handle certain administrative claims related to internet regulation. For example, disputes over how local agencies enforce rules on online data, personal information protection, online unfair competition, e‑commerce, and online information services will be heard by the Internet Courts instead of local courts. Additionally, the Internet Courts will adjudicate internet-related civil cases involving foreign parties or parties from Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan. For instance, cross-border disputes over data, personal data protection, virtual assets, unfair competition, domain names, and contracts in cyberspace will now be heard directly by these specialised courts.
By concentrating these complex and cross-border cases in specialised courts, the SPC aims to develop clearer legal precedents and ensure more consistent judgements on digital issues. Overall, the reforms demonstrate the judiciary’s effort to adapt to the digital age and are expected to strengthen protections for online rights. International businesses operating in China’s digital market may also benefit from a more predictable forum for resolving cross-border internet disputes under the new rules.