If you are involved in civil proceedings， the following information on the service of judicial documents will help you to participate in litigation more efficiently so please read carefully.
23.1. What is the Service of Judicial Documents?
The service of judicial documents is the process where the people's court delivers judicial documents to the parties concerned or other relevant parties in accordance with the procedures and methods prescribed by law.
The service of judicial documents is an important procedure in the lawsuit， its main purpose is to present the case to the parties or the relevant participants and for them to understand the basic situation of the case and the scheduled process， be aware of their rights and obligations in the proceedings， effectively promote the action and protect their legitimate rights and interests.
23.2. Please Carefully Confirm the Address for Service.
Please provide the exact address to the court for the timely receipt of judicial documents. If the address provided is not accurate， or if a change of address is not promptly notified resulting in a delay of the service of the litigation documents, the party concerned will bear the unfavourable consequences. The confirmed delivery address shall apply to the first instance， the second instance， the retrial review， and the enforcement procedure. If the address of the service is changed， please inform the court of the address in written form.
23.3. Judicial Documents which Need to be Served.
The judicial documents served by the court include: judgment， order， the copy of complaint， pleadings， counter pleadings and petition， various notices such as the notice of case acceptance， notice of respose to action， notice of producing evidence， notice of appearance and etc. ) ， summons, mediation agreement, payment order and etc. .
23.4. Ways of the Documents to be Delievered by the Court.
At present, the ways of delivering judicial documents regulated by the law of China mainly include direct delivery, delivery by leaving, delivery by entrustment, delivery by post, electronic delivery, delivery by transfer and delivery by public notice. In addition to the delivery of the announcement， the delivery personnel may， at the same time， delivery in a variety of ways， and the date of delivery will be determined in accordance with the way of the first delivery.
23.4.1. Direct delivery. The charging document shall be sent directly to the addressee. Where the addressee is a citizen in legal， the documents can be signed by the addressee’s family members after receipt if the address is absent. If the addressee is a legal person or other organization the documents can be signed by the litigation representative, the principal person in charge of the organization or the legal representative，or the person responsible for the receipt. Where the addressee has an attorney，the documents must be signed by the attorney after receipt; if the addressee has appointed the agent to receive the documents， the court shall send it to the agent. If the addressee lives in the territory but absent， the documents can be signed by an adult in the family after receipt.
23.4.2. delivery by leaving. Where the addressee, adult family member, litigation representative or other authorized person refuses to receive the documents， the person delivering the document will ask the representatives of the grassroot organizations or units concerned to be present and to explain the situation. The acknowledgement of receipt must be specified with the cause and date of the rejection along with the signature or seal of the person delivering the document or the witness; the litigation documents can also be left at the addressee's residence，which shall be deemed as receipt with the records through pictures and video recordings.
23.4.3. delivery by post. The litigation documents may be delivered by post if it is difficult to deliver the documents directly. The litigation documents may be delivered by post where the post service is allowed in addressee’s country and the address is clear. The documents will be attached with acknowledgement of receipt upon delivery. If the addressee does not sign on the acknowledgement of receipt， but signs on the postal document，the documents will be deemed to have been received，and the date of receipt is also the date of delivery. Where it fails to prove that whether the addressee has received the document of service and if there is not enough evidence to determine that the service has been delivered，it shall be deemed that the delivery of the documents cannot be completed by post. Where the party concerned is in Hong Kong，or Macao Special Administrative Region or the Taiwan region involved in the litigation documents may be delivered by post if the address is clear.
23.4.4.Delivery by entrustment. If it is difficult to deliver the litigation documents directly， the addressee may entrust the people's court to deliver it on his behalf. Where the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement is signed between China and the country or region where the addressee is located, the litigation documents may be delivered in accordance with the provisions of the agreement on mutual legal assistance. Where there is no agreement on mutual legal assistance with China , but the country or region where the addressee is located is the member of The Hague Service Convention, the litigation documents may be delivered in accordance with the provisions of the Convention. Where the country or region concerned has neither signed the mutual legal assistance agreement with China nor is the member of The Hague Service Convention , but has diplomatic relations with China,, the litigation documents shall be delivered through diplomatic channels. The addressee with Chinese nationality can entrust the Chinese Embassy in the country where the addressee is located to deliver the documents. Where the litigation documents have been delivered for at least six months by the relevant department of China to the relevant departments of the country where the addressee is located, and it fails to prove that whether the addressee has received the delivered document, and if in accordance with the circumstances, there is not enough evidence to determine that the service has been delivered, it shall be deemed that the documents delivered cannot be completed by entrustment. Where the delivery is entrusted to the foreign central authorities, service fees charged by the foreign central authorities shall be paid in advance by the applicant. If the judicial instrument is first delivered， the entrusted delivery fee for other follow-up instruments shall be paid in advance. For Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Region parties, they may use Chinese Legal Services (Hong Kong, Macao) Company, but not for service by leaving.
23.4.5.Electronic delivery. In order to improve the efficiency of delivery, where the parties voluntarily choose the electronic delivery， the court can , referring to the Provisions on Civil and Commercial litigation Documents Service of Shenzhen Qianhai Cooperation Zone People's Court (Trial) , deliver the litigation procedural documents except the judgment, mediation, order, payment order and written decision. Where the sending device display “sent successfully”， it shall be deemed as delivered.
23.4.6. Delivery by transfer. This refers to the legal documents that will be delivered by the relevant organs or units basing on the relevant circumstances of the addressee. Where the parties of the case involve foreign affairs, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, the service personnel can transfer the litigation documents to the enterprise abroad，other branches within the territory of China，joint venture company, sole corporation，company established inside China by foreign individuals , and relatives, friends, colleagues or a related litigation representative living in China. Where the defendant's domicile is in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region， and the plaintiff is a natural or legal person of the Hongkong Special Administrative Region， the plaintiff may apply directly for the transfer of the procedural litigation document to the defendant. If it is to be delivered by way of a transfer， the consent of the transmitting party should be obtained and a written record of the transmission made.
23.4.7. Delivery by public notice. If it cannot be delivered in any other way， it shall be delivered by public notice. The notice is published in The People's Court. The date of publication shall prevail to the date of public notice. Where the compatriots in the territory of People's Republic of China (e.g. parties from Taiwan area in the Chinese mainland， parties from Hong Kong， Macao Special Administrative Region in the Chinese mainland) have no domicile in the Chinese mainland， the documents shall be deemed as delivered after three months from the public notice. The parties of the Hong Kong， Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan Region will not be allowed to serve in public notice without the assistance of judicial assistance from the Chinese mainland. If the plaintiff does not provide the exact address of the defendant in the Taiwan area or the Macao Special Administrative Region， he may check the defendant's address through judicial assistance and serve the judicial documents at the same time. If the plaintiff does not provide the exact address of the defendant of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region， the plaintiff may entrust a Chinese legal service company with the task of checking the address and delivering the judicial documents at the same time.
